HEADLINES

Ryan Shazier

North Rumors: Steelers, Vikings, Browns

June 6th, 2018 at 9:36pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier will not play in 2018 after suffering a devastating spinal injury in 2017, but he today reiterated his desire to resume his career at some point, per Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). Meeting with the media for the first time since his injury, Shazier took an optimistic tone, but it’s unclear if he’ll ever realistically have the chance to step on the field as a player again. Pittsburgh has already placed him on the physically unable to perform list, meaning he’s now ineligible to play during the upcoming campaign. In something of a goodwill gesture, the Steelers also converted the majority of Shazier’s 2018 base salary into a signing bonus, allowing the former first-round pick to collect his entire paycheck immediately.

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

  • The Vikings have lost undrafted free agent edge rusher Hercules Mata’afa for the season after he suffered a torn ACL today, reports Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com (Twitter link). While he ultimately wasn’t selected in the draft, Mata’afa was labeled as a potential fifth-rounder by Lance Zierlein of NFL.com, who lauded Mata’afa’s toughness and motor. Mata’afa, a Washington State product, would have had to make the Minnesota roster on special teams, but he’ll now have to wait until his second NFL season for another opportunity. He’ll be waived/injured and removed from the Vikings’ active roster, and then placed on injured reserve if he’s not claimed.
  • Mychal Kendricks‘ one-year, $3.5MM deal with the Browns contains a $500K signing bonus and a $1.4MM base salary, tweets Field Yates of ESPN.com. As such, it appears Kendricks is due either a roster bonus or a significant total in per-game roster bonuses. Either way, his new pact doesn’t appear to guarantee him a roster spot in Cleveland, especially given the Browns’ depth at the position. Cleveland believes Kendricks can play all three linebacker positions, but the club already boasts Jamie Collins, Christian Kirksey, and Joe Schobert at the second level, meaning snaps could be sparse for Kendricks.
  • The NFL announced it has fined the Ravens and head coach John Harbaugh, and docked the club its final two organized team activity sessions, following a “violation of offseason workout rules.” While the infraction is unclear, it’s possible — based both on Baltimore’s history and the club’s statement — that players were either asked to hit or practice for too long a duration, violating the collective bargaining agreement.

Steelers Adjust Ryan Shazier’s Contract

May 3rd, 2018 at 1:24pm CST by Zachary Links

The Steelers have converted $8.26MM of linebacker Ryan Shazier’s 2018 base salary into a signing bonus, a source tells Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The move will have no cap implications for the Steelers, but it will allow Shazier to collect on the bulk of his pay for the 2018 season immediately rather than wait for it in increments throughout the year. 

The Steelers placed Shazier on the PUP list on Wednesday, which officially rules him out for the 2018 season. Shazier’s contract expires after the year is through, but that’s the furthest thing from his mind as he works to recover from the spinal injury he suffered last year.

When Shazier was carted off of the field in December, doctors feared that he might never walk again. After months of grueling rehab, Shazier is now able to walk with some assistance. Someday, the linebacker hopes to return to the field.

“There is no ceiling in Ryan’s recovery. He aggressively approaches it every day,” Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said in March. “We support him in every way possible in that endeavor. Where that leads, only he will know and he will determine further down the road. His approach, his mental approach. I can’t tell you how impressive an inspiration he is to us.”

In addition to the $8.26MM signing bonus, Shazier will also earn roughly $700K in salary throughout the season.

Steelers Place Ryan Shazier On PUP List

May 2nd, 2018 at 1:53pm CST by Zachary Links

The Steelers have placed Ryan Shazier on the PUP (Phyiscially Unable To Perform) list. This was the expected course of action after GM Kevin Colbert announced in February that Shazier would not be able to play in 2018. The move means that Shazier will not count against Pittsburgh’s 90-man roster.

Shazier, of course, suffered a serious spinal injury against the Bengals in Week 13. He underwent successful spinal stabilization surgery in December, but as we saw from his on-camera appearance during the NFL Draft, he has a long way to go in his recovery. An eventual return to the field has not been ruled out, but Shazier will first focus on his general well-being and mobility.

“That’s a huge lift, for not only him, but for us,” said Colbert after watching Shazier walk across the NFL Draft stage to announce the Steelers’ first round pick. “To see where he’s come from to where he is and knowing where he might be able to go, it’s beyond inspirational. It’s just exciting. It’s really exciting for him.”

Shazier, meanwhile, said he was touched by the tremendous reaction he received in Dallas.

“It motivates you when you get the reaction you get from the crowd,” said Shazier. “The people at Ohio State loved me before I got hurt. The people at the Steelers loved me before I got hurt. Just the fact that I am going through this, so many people have been reaching out, praying and having their hands of protection around me. It really means a lot.”

NFL Draft Rumors: Vander Esch, Steelers, Bills

April 4th, 2018 at 5:40pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest NFL Draft news:

  • Linked to Leighton Vander Esch for several weeks this offseason, the Steelers met with the Boise State outside linebacker on Monday night, Tony Pauline of Draft Analyst reports. Pittsburgh has used first-round picks on either inside or outside ‘backers in four of its past five drafts. Three of those players remain on the team, but only two will be able to play this season. Ryan Shazier has been declared out as he attempts to recover from his frightening spine injury. Pauline wrote in March that Vander Esch won’t get past Pittsburgh at No. 28.
  • Next up for Vander Esch met the Cowboys on Wednesday morning, James Palmer of NFL.com tweets. After that, he has the Cardinals and every team picking between No. 12 to No. 24, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Aside from the aforementioned clubs, the teams picking from No. 12-24 are the Bills (twice), Redskins, Packers, Ravens, Chargers, Seahawks, Lions, Bengals, Bills, Patriots, and Panthers.
  • LSU pass-rusher Arden Key met with the Saints and Lions before his pro day on Wednesday and will visit with the Bengals on Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Due to injuries, key only started in eight games last year, but he still finished out with 33 tackles, 5.5 for loss, four sacks, and a forced fumble. He is widely projected to be a first round pick later this month.

Steelers LB Ryan Shazier Won’t Play In 2018

February 28th, 2018 at 10:41am CST by Zachary Links

Linebacker Ryan Shazier will not play football in 2018, Steelers GM Kevin Colbert told reporters at the NFL combine. Colbert stressed that Shazier will continue to be a valuable member of the team and noted that he is “covered” contractually. Ryan Shazier (Vertical)

Shazier suffered a scary spinal injury while making a tackle against the Bengals on Dec. 4. The news on Shazier’s overall recovery has been promising, but it’s still unclear as to whether he’ll be able to return to football at some point. For his part, Shazier says he wants to play again.

“I got to get back,” Shazier said recently. “Right now I’m reading a book and it’s basically saying trust the process. I’m really trusting the process. I know the end goal. So I’m taking every step of the way, I’m giving everything I got. The therapists are like, ‘Man this is crazy; I’ve never seen anyone work this hard.’ They almost see progression every day.” 

Shazier, 25, tallied 68 tackles and 11 pass defenses before the injury and earned a Pro Bowl selection despite playing in only 12 games. Prior to that, he logged 55 tackles in each of the previous two seasons.

AFC North Notes: Shazier, Browns, Steelers

February 22nd, 2018 at 12:40pm CST by Ryan Posner

Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier said in a podcast hosted by Steelers fullback Roosevelt Nix (Twitter link) that he intends to play football again and still has Hall of Fame aspirations after sustaining a spinal injury while making a tackle against the Bengals on Dec. 4.

Shazier was speaking publicly for the first time since the injury. The two-time Pro-Bowler underwent spinal stabilization surgery in December.

“I got to get back,” Shazier said on the podcast. “Right now I’m reading a book and it’s basically saying trust the process. I’m really trusting the process. I know the end goal. So I’m taking every step of the way, I’m giving everything I got. The therapists are like, ‘Man this is crazy; I’ve never seen anyone work this hard.’ They almost see progression every day.” 

Shazier, 25, racked up 68 tackles and 11 pass defenses through 12 games prior to the injury and was still selected to the Pro Bowl. He also logged 55 tackles in each of the previous two seasons. He’s made several public appearances since the injury, with the latest one coming at Tuesday’s Penguins game, and has provided updates on his recovery process through social media.

Here’s more from around the AFC North:

  • Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer takes a look at some questions facing the Browns‘ receiving corps this offseason, including a reunion with Terrelle Pryor. The Redskins signed Pryor to a one-year $6MM deal last offseason after the Browns converted the former Ohio State quarterback to wide receiver full time in 2015. Cabot also breaks down some questions facing Josh Gordon and 2016 first-round pick Corey Coleman.
  • Martavis Bryant was identified as a potential trade candidate this offseason as Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com went over some of the players most likely to move via trade. The emergence of JuJu Smith-Schuster coupled with the fact that Bryant requested a trade in a trade in October make him a prime candidate. Bryant did tell reporters in January, though, that he’d like to return to the Steelers next season and would be ready for OTAs. Bryant had a career-low three touchdown catches last season despite playing in a career-high 15 games.
  • It was reported Wednesday that pending Ravens free agent tight end Crockett Gillmore is looking to move to the offensive line.

AFC North Rumors: Ravens, Haley, Steelers

February 17th, 2018 at 4:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

John Harbaugh confirmed the Ravens were interested in Torrey Smith last offseason, and Joe Flacco called his former deep threat while he was a free agent, Jeff Zreibec of the Baltimore Sun notes. Smith ultimately decided to sign with the Eagles, and it’s unclear what the Ravens offered (if one was made) for a reunion. Smith, who the 49ers cut prior to free agency last year, was interested in a Ravens return as well. But he didn’t recall the Ravens and his camp getting far on a deal.

“I don’t really think so. We talked, but with the way the timing was going, I kind of just had to make a decision,” Smith told Zreibec about the sides’ 2017 discussions. “For me, this time around, it wasn’t about finances at all. It was about the right situation and the right time and that’s really kind of how it’s going to probably end up being for the rest of my career.

“… Obviously, I had interest in coming back. That’s home. I have a lot of respect for everyone over there. They know that. It’s love forever. But to have the opportunity to come up here with some guys I was familiar with and to play in my wife’s hometown, that was pretty cool as well.”

However, with the now-two-time Super Bowl champion wideout a possible free agent again soon — the cap-strapped Eagles hold a team option for his $5MM 2018 wages — he may have another decision to make. And with Baltimore’s post-Smith deep threat, Mike Wallace, also a UFA, the sides could potentially revisit a reunion. Smith’s best seasons came with the Ravens, and he hasn’t come particularly close to matching his Baltimore work over the past two seasons.

Here’s the latest from some of the Ravens’ top rivals.

  • The Browns‘ offense may like quite familiar to a certain fanbase next season. Todd Haley will be bringing over his offensive system from Pittsburgh, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com notes. The longtime OC and new Browns play-caller will be implementing his scheme, complete with new terminology, so it will mark a significant adjustment from a team that operated without an OC the past two seasons. However, some of Hue Jackson‘s previous concepts will be retained, Haley said.
  • While Ryan Shazier continues his rehab from the spine injury that has his NFL career in danger of ending, the Pro Bowl linebacker is working out at Steelers facilities daily. Kevin Colbert said Shazier works out at the team’s headquarters and attends meetings in addition to his rehab performed at an outpatient facility. Guaranteed $8.7MM next season, Shazier has been working with coaches watching film and observing scouting meetings, Joe Rutter of the the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. Owner Art Rooney said last week Shazier would have a role with the 2018 Steelers even if he can’t play next season. The linebacker was recently released from a Pittsburgh hospital after at two-month stay and displayed progress at a recent Pittsburgh Penguins game by standing up, with assistance, and remaining on his feet to a standing ovation.
  • The Steelers have already restructured two starters’ deals to create 2018 cap space and may well continue to do so. Even after they reorganized David DeCastro and Stephon Tuitt‘s contracts, the Steelers have barely $7MM in projected space. Pittsburgh used to be against this tactic, but Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports team VP of football and business administration Omar Khan is believed to have convinced ownership to proceed in this fashion years ago. Khan serves as the franchise’s chief negotiator. While Tuitt and DeCastro’s 2019 cap numbers rose because of last week’s transactions, Bouchette notes the Steelers believe the cap’s continuous rises will help absorb those figures — the 2019 cap could well surpass $190MM — and keep the team from having to cut essential personnel to cover for their accounting tricks.

North Notes: Packers, Vikes, Shazier, Ravens

February 4th, 2018 at 8:46pm CST by Sam Robinson

As a high-octane Super Bowl LII enters its defining stretch, here’s the latest from the North divisions, starting with a perennial Super Bowl contender.

  • Aaron Rodgers interprets the language coming out of Packers headquarters this offseason as indicating he’ll have more help in 2018. The 34-year-old quarterback said his team will need to improve on both sides of the ball. “I think based on some of his comments, he’s going to be aggressive,” Rodgers said (via Nate Davis USA Today Sports) of new GM Brian Gutekunst. “We gotta get better on both sides of the ball. And that’s on Brian’s staff, that’s their job responsibility to give us a product we can work with and then it’s on Mike (McCarthy) and the staff and leadership to make it work.” The Packers have been perhaps the stingiest team in the league regarding non-street free agency investments, and with Rodgers entering his mid-30s, it would make sense for the franchise to go after the window it has.
  • Earlier Sunday, a report surfaced regarding Ryan Shazier‘s progress. While Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reported Shazier has a regular walking routine, the Steelers linebacker wanted to clarify that. Michele Tafoya of NBC Sports tweets Shazier is not walking on his own and needs the assistance of others or a walker at this juncture of his rehab process.
  • The Vikings want to have their next offensive coordinator by midweek, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets. La Canfora posits it would be a surprise if the team doesn’t conduct an interview with Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo. The second-year Philadelphia QBs coach is thought to be a sought-after candidate for this post but may not be ready to leave his current job just yet.
  • The Ravens‘ decision to announce Eric DeCosta will succeed Ozzie Newsome did not violate the Rooney Rule. Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk notes a team is allowed to make a promotion of this sort without conducting an interview, provided the executive has been labeled as the GM-in-waiting.

AFC Notes: Browns, Shazier, Welker

February 4th, 2018 at 10:19am CST by Rory Parks

Per Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com, former Redskins GM Scot McCloughan — widely regarded as one of the league’s top talent evaluators — has joined the Browns as a personnel consultant to assist the team in this year’s draft (although Mike Jones of USA Today tweets that McCloughan is still running his private pre-draft scouting service and is not exclusively assisting any one team). McCloughan and new Browns GM John Dorsey are close, and both men worked together in Green Bay under then-Packers GM Ron Wolf. Washington fired McCloughan in March 2017, and McCloughan subsequently filed a grievance against the Redskins, the outcome of which is still pending.

Cleveland has 12 picks in the 2018 draft, including Nos. 1 and 4 overall, so McCloughan’s talents will certainly be put to good use (assuming he has, in fact, joined the Browns’ staff). McCloughan has previously said Oklahoma signal-caller Baker Mayfield is his favorite QB in this year’s class, though team sources indicate that there is no clear favorite if Cleveland decides to use the top pick on a quarterback.

McCloughan participated in meetings with the Browns’ full scouting department yesterday, so it certainly sounds as if he is working for Cleveland alone at this point.

Now for more from the AFC:

  • Steelers LB Ryan Shazier has regained movement in his legs and is engaging in a regular walking routine, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. One source familiar with Shazier’s recovery said that Shazier is making “incredible progress.”
  • The Broncos requested permission to interview Texans offensive/special teams assistant Wes Welker for its WRs coach position, per Mike Klis of 9News (via Twitter). Had Denver hired Welker in that capacity, it would have represented a promotion for him, but Houston denied the request. The Broncos hired Zach Azzanni as WRs coach instead.
  • It seems fairly clear that the Raiders violated the Rooney Rule when they agreed to hire Jon Gruden as their next coach before interviewing any minority candidates, but commissioner Roger Goodell insisted during his state of the league address last week that Oakland was in compliance with the Rule. However, the way in which Goodell delivered that affirmation has raised plenty of eyebrows (as Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports discusses in detail), and if the Raiders were found to be in compliance with the Rule, it seems unlikely any team will be found to have violated it in the future.

AFC North Notes: Bengals, McCarron, Steelers

February 2nd, 2018 at 2:01pm CST by Zachary Links

It’s imperative that the Bengals gauge the A.J. McCarron market correctly this offseason, Paul Dehner Jr. and Jim Owczarski of the Enquirer write. Unless the quarterback wins his grievance case, he’ll be a restricted free agent, meaning that the team can attach a second-round tender to him and likely collect on a valuable draft pick.

In theory, the Bengals could use the first-round tender ($4MM+), but that would place him in the upper tier of backup quarterbacks not on rookie contracts. Last year, only three such QBs earned more – Mike Glennon, Nick Foles, and Matt Schaub. Rival clubs would be willing to take on McCarron for that salary, but it’s hard to see a team also sacrificing a first-round pick in that scenario.

Here’s more from the AFC North:

  • Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier was officially released from the rehabilitation clinic two months after having spinal stabilization surgery, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) details. Shazier will now begin outpatient rehabilitation and still has a long road ahead of him, but it’s a very positive step forward for the 25-year-old.
  • It’s still not clear whether Dean Pees was forced out of his role as the Ravens‘ defensive coordinator, Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun writes. Pees, 68, retired at the end of the 2017 season only to accept a job as the Titans’ defensive coordinator four weeks later. It’s possible that Pees painted himself into a corner by making his pending retirement known to members of the organization ahead of time, setting the table for Don “Wink” Martindale to take over as the new DC this year. Regardless of how it went down, Zrebiec argues that change can be a good thing. Pees isn’t necessarily responsible for all of the Ravens’ defensive woes, but the team did have a handful of late-game, late-season meltdowns under his watch.
  • Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter) expects Eric DeCosta to reach out to Ray Rice to join the team in some capacity when he takes over as Ravens GM in 2019. DeCosta will take over as the Ravens’ GM in 2019 with current GM Ozzie Newsome moving to a consultant role.
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