Wes Welker - Pro Football Rumors

FA Notes: Welker, Panthers, Lions, Eagles

January 12th, 2015 at 10:48pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Let’s look at some news regarding free-agents-to-be…

Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker told reporters, including Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post (on Twitter), that he’s not sure if he wants to return to the Broncos next season. “I don’t know. There’s a lot of things I need to figure out,” the veteran said. Back in November it was reported that several former teammates would like to see him walk away from the game altogether for the sake of his long-term health.
Assuming the Panthers don’t pursue Greg Hardy after the completion of his Feb. 9th domestic violence trial, their biggest decision will be whether to re-sign left tackle Byron Bell, writes ESPN.com’s David Newton. Bell has had an up-and-down season, but odds are Carolina won’t find a high-level left tackle in the draft at pick No. 25. Besides, the Panthers have other needs they might want to address with their first round selection. Carolina could use a speed receiver, a return specialist, a cover corner, and a defensive lineman.
Stephen Hill says he’d like to return to the Panthers next year, per Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter) Based on coach Ron Rivera‘s comments last week, it sounds like the team wants him back as well.
The Lions have several free agents to address, including backup quarterback Kellen Moore, who tells Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com that he’d like to return to the Motor City next season. Moore, 25, has yet to take an NFL snap.
The Eagles have a lot of decisions to make about their upcoming free agents. In part one of a six part series, Reuben Frank and Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com look at a handful of the Eagles – from Emmanuel Acho to Matt Barkley – who can leave this offseason.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Freeman’s Latest: Giants, Welker, Sam

November 5th, 2014 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report tackles a number of issues and topics around the NFL in his latest 10-Point Stance column, opening with a look at red-hot Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and also discussing Rob Gronkowski and Andrew Luck, among others. Here are a few of the more interesting tidbits from Freeman’s piece:

Expect “heads to roll” if the Giants don’t make the playoffs this year, according to Freeman. Across the NFL, there’s speculation that New York’s front office could undergo changes if the team misses out on the postseason, and head coach Tom Coughlin‘s job would likely be in jeopardy as well. There are only six teams in the NFC currently above .500, so the 3-5 Giants aren’t totally out of the hunt yet, but they’re slipping out of contention, and personnel men around the league are bracing for the club to make “fairly substantial changes” in the offseason.
Several former Patriots teammates of Wes Welker asked about the Broncos wideout after Sunday’s game, and were concerned about his health. According to Freeman, there are “a lot of people close to Welker” who would like to see him walk away from football soon for the sake of his long-term health.
Passing along data compiled by Cyd Zeigler of Outsports.com, Freeman suggests that Michael Sam‘s sexuality seems to be playing a part in his inability to land even a spot on a practice squad. Sam doesn’t appear to be drawing serious interest from any NFL teams at this point, and while no personnel execs will say the defensive end’s sexuality is a factor, the fact that he can’t find a job is virtually unprecedented for a player with his college resumé.
Following up on reports by ESPN’s Britt McHenry and the Washington Post’s Jason Reid, Freeman indicates that Washington “is a mess,” as much as the club may try to deny it. The Bleacher Report scribe points to a leadership vacuum that needs to be addressed.

Extra Points: Welker, Spiller, Concussions

November 3rd, 2014 at 10:20pm CST by Dallas Robinson

While they’re surely focused on the regular season after losing 43-21 to the Patriots yesterday, the Broncos are going to have to make several difficult decisions during the offseason. Most importantly, Denver will need to figure out how to retain both Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas, meaning that fellow pass-catcher Wes Welker‘s impending free agency might be put on the back burner. A team source tells Jason Cole of Bleacher Report that Welker is the odd man out in regards to a new contract, and that the 33-year-old will likely be playing somewhere else in 2015. Welker, working under the final year of a two-year, $12MM deal, has just 22 receptions for 212 yards and one touchdown this season. Though he currently earns $6MM per year, Cole speculates that Welker will be lucky to find $2-3MM on the open market.

Despite being placed on IR-DTR after breaking his collarbone, C.J. Spiller tells Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that he isn’t worried about his free agent stock. “I think I’ve laid a great foundation,” says the Bills running back, who will be part of a free agent running back class that could include DeMarco Murray, Mark Ingram, Shane Vereen, and Frank Gore.
220 former NFL players have opted out of the proposed concussion agreement, per an ESPN report. The league has agreed to pay in excess of $765MM in order to cover health risks associated with concussions. The retired players, or their families, who opted out of the settlement have the option of suing the NFL individually.
Colts defensive end Ricky Jean-Francois has hired Drew Rosenhaus as his new agent, according to Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). It’s probably not a signal that the 27-year-old is looking for a new contract, as he signed a four-year, $22MM deal with Indianapolis just last year. He’ll count $6.125MM against the cap in 2015, and though the club could save $4.875MM by cutting him, it’s presumably pleased with his production, as he graded out positively, especially against the run, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

NFL, NFLPA Announce New PED, Drug Policies

September 17th, 2014 at 10:55pm CST by Luke Adams

10:55pm: Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter) has the breakdown of the new substance abuse policy.

A player will enter a program after one failed test and face a two game fine for a second failed test. From there it’s a four game fine for a third failed test, a four game suspension for a fourth flunked test, a ten game suspension for a fifth violation, and a one-year ban for a sixth failed test.

9:48am: The NFL and NFLPA have released a joint statement announcing changes to the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. The press release doesn’t include details on the NFL’s new substance-abuse policy, but notes that those changes are expected to be announced soon as well, once the two sides finalize their agreement.

The new agreement on performance-enhancing drugs will allow Broncos wideout Wes Welker, Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick, and Rams receiver Stedman Bailey to return to their respective teams this week. The agreement was expected to make a few more players eligible for immediate reinstatement, but those three names are the only ones mentioned in the release, so presumably other suspended players will have to wait a little longer, or serve their full suspensions. Additionally, when the substance-abuse policy changes are finalized, several more players could be reinstated.

Here are some other highlights of the new policy, per the release:

HGH testing will be fully implemented this season.
Appeals of positive tests in the performance enhancing drug programs (including HGH) will be heard by third-party arbitrators jointly selected and retained by the NFL and NFLPA.
Discipline for violations of the performance enhancing drug policy (including for HGH) will be modified.
A first violation will result in a suspension without pay of up to six games depending on the nature of the violation. Use of a diuretic or masking agent will result in a suspension without pay of two games. Use of a steroid, stimulant, HGH or other banned substance will result in a suspension without pay of four games. Evidence of an attempt to manipulate a test will result in a suspension without pay of six games.
A second violation of the steroid policy will result in a suspension without pay of 10 games.
A third violation will result in banishment for a minimum of two years.
Players who test positive for banned stimulants in the offseason will no longer be suspended. Instead, the player will be referred to the substance abuse program. Players who test positive for banned stimulants during the season will continue to be suspended without pay for four games.

Minor Moves: Wednesday

September 17th, 2014 at 4:57pm CST by Luke Adams

We’ll round up Wednesday’s minor transactions right here, with additional moves listed at the top of the page throughout the rest of the day:

Rams wideout Stedman Bailey has formally been reinstated to the team’s roster and practiced today, according to Howard Balzer of The SportsXchange (via Twitter). Bailey, whose penalty was reduced as part of the league’s new PED policy, takes the lone opening on St. Louis’ roster.
The Giants have officially received the roster exemption for Eric Herman that we made note of below. As Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News tweets, the club will have until Friday afternoon to either cut Herman or someone else in order to get down to 53 players.

Earlier updates:

The Broncos officially announced Wes Welker‘s reinstatement today, according to Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Denver had previously been carrying just 52 players, so no exemption or corresponding cut was necessary to slide Welker back onto the 53-man roster.
Chris Lewis-Harris‘ roster exemption has expired and the Bengals have re-added the cornerback to their active roster, tweets Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. Like Denver, Cincinnati also had an open spot on their 53-man squad, so now that Lewis-Harris is back on board, the roster is once again full.
Although his name wasn’t mentioned in the press release issued today by the NFL and NFLPA, the league’s new PED policy has allowed Giants guard Eric Herman to return early from his suspension, writes Conor Orr of NJ.com. The team has applied for a roster exemption for Herman in order to get him back on the practice field without immediately cutting anyone, and is waiting to hear back from the league.

New Drug Policy Likely Completed

September 16th, 2014 at 9:07pm CST by Zachary Links

9:07pm: As of 9pm CT, the suspended players still have not been informed of their reinstatement, tweets Jay Glazer of FOX Sports. That could just be a formality, but that can’t be safely assumed given the number of false alarms we’ve had over the last couple of weeks.

7:39pm: The NFL has begun informing players they’ve satisfied terms of suspensions and are reinstated, which is an indication that the new drug policy is finally finished, tweets Ed Werder of ESPN.com. The agreement on a new policy should mean an instant reinstatement for Wes Welker and Orlando Scandrick (link). Meanwhile, the new policy means that it’ll officially be a ten game suspension for Josh Gordon, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.

While Gordon, Welker, and Scandrick were probably the three biggest names waiting on a new drug policy, there are others that could potentially be affected by a revamped policy. Ravens safety Will Hill, Patriots cornerback Brandon Browner, and Dion Jordan and Reshad Jones of the Dolphins are just some of the players that could also conceivably be back in action with a change to the policy. Others, like Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson, probably won’t be reinstated, however.

In the case of Gordon, the new policy is good news for both his immediate football future and long-term finances. If Gordon isn’t given an additional suspension for his DUI, he can hit the open market after the 2015 season by playing in the Browns’ final six games this season. If he were to be suspended for an additional two games for the DUI, he wouldn’t earn that accrued season, meaning the Browns would get an extra year of team control on him. Earlier today we learned that the DUI won’t result in an automatic two-game timeout, but the NFL could still slap him with a suspension for the DUI given his track record of substance problems.

Welker, Scandrick, Others To Be Reinstated

September 15th, 2014 at 4:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Broncos wideout Wes Welker and Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick are among the players who will be reinstated when the term sheet for the league’s new drug policy is agreed upon, according to Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (Facebook link). Welker and Scandrick are two of the estimated 20 players whose suspensions will be affected by the new policy once it’s approved by the NFL, which is expected to happen within the next 24 hours.

Besides Welker and Scandrick, Rams receiver Stedman Bailey, Giants offensive lineman Eric Herman, and former Vikings defensive end Spencer Nealy will also have the remaining games on their suspensions wiped out and will be reinstated immediately, according to the ESPN duo. Additionally, Browns wideout Josh Gordon and ex-Colts receiver LaVon Brazill will have their year-long bans reduced to 10 games.

That handful of players named by Schefter and Mortensen is far from the complete list of players who will be affected by the NFL’s new drug policy, but we may not get that full list of names until the agreement becomes official. In any case, it seems plenty of players who had originally been suspended through Week 3 will get the opportunity to return to their teams’ respective practices this week, and many of them could be active this coming Sunday.

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).

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.

New Drug Policy Likely To Be Passed Tomorrow

September 11th, 2014 at 11:09pm CST by Zachary Links

11:09pm: Rapoport and Breer published a joint post on NFL.com, reporting that the policy will likely be voted on and passed tomorrow. The league agreed to drop its request of a mandatory one-game suspension for DUI arrest, but there will be two-game suspensions for DUI convictions. 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).

9:40pm: While Rapoport says (on Twitter) that the it’s “no sure thing” that the policy passes tomorrow, Breer tweets the the union received a fresh proposal from the league tonight, and it looks like the new deal will go through. Additionally, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report notes (Twitter link) that though the THC threshold will be increased in the agreement, it won’t be upped to Olympic levels, as many players are opposed to such a notion.

8:30pm: Breer tweets he’s been told repeatedly that the NFLPA will not vote on a proposal without knowing that it will “pass overwhelmingly,” which indicates that the union’s vote tomorrow will result in a new policy being ratified.

8:13pm: The union has scheduled a vote on the new policy for tomorrow afternoon, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Players suspended for amphetamine use – such as Welker, Scandrick, and Dion Jordan – would be reinstated under the agreement (link).

7:28pm: A source close to the negotiations tells Dan Graziano of ESPN.com that the players could vote on the new policy as early as Friday. The new deal could result in an instant reistatement for Wes Welker a reduction of Gordon’s suspension to something in the range of 6-10 games. There are other key changes to the drug policy being discussed, including the handling of HGH testing.

4:23pm: The two sides are circling around a few remaining issues with the policy and are trading proposals, tweets Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (on Twitter). He doubts there will be anything approved by the players tonight, however. Major hurdles have been cleared in the discussions, tweets Albert Breer of the NFL Network.

3:00pm: Both the NFL and NFLPA are hoping to finalize a new drug policy tonight in which the suspensions will wind up being overturned, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.

2:26pm: The NFLPA told its union representatives to be on standby for a potential vote on a new global drug policy, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. As we’ve heard before, reinstatement for some suspended players is also on table in the talks.

However, the Josh Gordon case remains tricky since his failed test took place before new league year, which is when the grandfathering of the new rules would begin (link). The new league year officially began on March 11, 2014 and the Browns wide receiver flunked his test prior to that date. Others like Wes Welker and Orlando Scandrick, however, could be back in action rather quickly since their positive tests took place in the 2014 league year. The NFLPA has previously said that they would want players who are serving drug suspensions back on the field under the new rules.

Yesterday we heard that there has been significant positive movement toward an agreement between the NFL and NFLPA on a new drug policy, though the league dragged their feet on a new proposal. There was major skepticism yesterday that anything could get done in time for the suspended players to get reinstated for Sunday and from the outside it still sounds unlikely. One might speculate that the ongoing Ray Rice scandal has thrown a wrench into the progress of the drug policy talks.