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Uncategorized News & Rumors

49ers To Stick With Beathard Vs. Seahawks

November 22nd, 2017 at 7:24pm CST by Micah Powell

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard will receive his fifth consecutive start when the team hosts Seattle on Sunday, according to Ian Rapoport (Twitter link). That means the recently acquired Jimmy Garoppolo will have to wait at least another week to receive his first snaps in San Francisco. C.J. Beathard (Vertical)

Though Shanahan said Garoppolo, who the team traded for before the deadline from the Patriots, is making progress, he doesn’t expect the quarterback to be fully up to speed in the team’s offense this season. “Is Jimmy going to be the best he can? To me, that’s impossible. He just hasn’t been here long enough. … I don’t think we’re going to see Jimmy’s best football, to be fair to him, until next year. Because that’s what guys need.”

Fans in the Bay Area might be ready to see what Garoppolo can do, but it is also tough to bench the third-round signal-caller just one game after he delivered the team’s first victory. In Week 10 vs. the Giants, Beathard completed 76 percent of his passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns and added another score on the ground.

San Francisco didn’t trade for the Eastern Illinois product for no reason, however, and the team is sure to give him a chance to show what he can do in Shanahan’s offense should Beathard make a misstep.

AFC Notes: Bills, Phins, Cutler, Broncos, Jets

November 20th, 2017 at 9:31pm CST by Micah Powell

Though there weren’t many positives to glean from a 54-24 drubbing by the Chargers, the Bills did receive one bit of good news on Monday. Newly acquired wideout Kelvin Benjamin did not tear his ACL in the loss, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (Twitter link).

Though the injury could force the physical receiver to miss a few games, he should be able to help the Bills, currently tied with Baltimore for the last playoff spot, contend for a wildcard berth down the stretch.

After letting Robert Woods walk and trading away Sammy Watkins in the offseason, Buffalo pulled off a deadline deal with Carolina for Benjamin, who was expected to serve as Tyrod Taylor‘s top target. That has yet to come to fruition with Benjamin catching four passes in two games and Taylor being benched for the first half vs. Los Angeles.

Here’s more from around the AFC:

  • Dolphins QB Jay Cutler is officially in the NFL’s concussion protocol, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The Dolphins are 4-6 and mired in a four-game losing streak, so their showdown with New England could be a make-or-break game for their slim playoff hopes. Matt Moore will assume the starting role should Cutler not be fit for the game.
  • After being placed on injured reserve earlier this month, Raiders first-round pick Gareon Conley underwent surgery to repair his injured shin on Monday, NBC Sports’ Scott Blair reports. The cornerback suffered the injury in training camp and aggravated it in Week 3 vs. Washington.
  • The Jets are still holding out hope for the postseason. With that in mind, the team will roll with Josh McCown as the team’s starting quarterback unless injured, reports Newsday’s Calvin Watkins. McCown is on the same page as Bowles and appreciates the vote of confidence.
  • Following the firing of Mike McCoy as offensive coordinator, the Broncos promoted Bill Musgrave to the post and named Klint Kubiak quarterbacks coach, according to Schefter. The offensive coordinator in Oakland the last two seasons, Musgrave helped the Raiders produce one of the league’s most potent offenses in 2016. Kubiak, the son of former Broncos head coach and team senior personnel advisor Gary Kubiak, served as wide receivers coach at Kansas in 2015 before joining the Broncos as an assistant in 2016.
  • Remaining with the shakeup in Denver, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio writes that John Elway should also receive some blame for the team’s downward spiral in 2017. Florio writes: “Despite efforts to blame the players and, as of Monday morning, to blame offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, and possibly to blame coach Vance Joseph, responsibility for the six-game losing goes to every layer and level of the organization, and the buck ultimately stops on Elway’s desk.”

AFC Notes: Luck, Fournette, Watson

November 5th, 2017 at 11:24am CST by Zachary Links

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (video link) says no one is exactly sure what the future holds for Colts QB Andrew Luck, who was recently placed on IR and ruled out for the remainder of the year. Per Rapoport, Luck has met with at least four doctors and has been advised that he should not throw for two to three months, though surgery is not in the cards at this point. Rapoport says all indications are that Luck will be healthy for the start of 2018, but Alex Marvez of Sporting News is not so optimistic. Because of the way the Colts publicly handled the situation, Marvez does not put much stock in reports that Luck will be ready to go by the start of 2018 — especially since he still cannot throw without soreness 10 months after surgery — and he says Indianapolis is facing the possibility of Luck never playing again at a high level and being on the hook for $87 million in salary guaranteed against injury. Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com tweets that Luck will be reevaluated in December, and that the Colts are “not ignoring” the 2018 QB draft class.

On that sobering note, let’s take a look at more rumors from around the AFC:

  • The Colts claim that cornerback Vontae Davis is out for today’s game due to non-injury reasons, but Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk hears that is actually a cover-up for the fact that the Colts have not disclosed Davis’ lingering groin injury in recent weeks. Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star says there is more to Davis’ absence than the team is letting on, but he believes Davis’ absence is due to personal reasons and is not injury-related.
  • Jaguars RB Leonard Fournette was deactivated for today’s game against the Bengals, and Jay Glazer of FOX Sports tweets that the star rookie missed treatment, a workout, and a team photo this week, which led to his benching. Head coach Doug Marrone is clearly trying to change the culture in Jacksonville, though Jags fans have to hope it doesn’t come at the expense of the team’s playoff push.
  • Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets that Texans QB Deshaun Watson is expected to miss eight to nine months as a result of his ACL tear, though the last time he tore his ACL, he missed only five months, so Houston is hopeful for a shorter timeline.
  • Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says Broncos QB Paxton Lynch is under consideration to start in the team’s Week 10 matchup against New England, but Mike Klis of 9News.com says (via Twitter) that report is inaccurate. Klis reports that Lynch is not yet physically ready and that Brock Osweiler will keep the job if he plays well.
  • As La Canfora writes in a separate piece, there are some Browns coaches who believe GM Sashi Brown intentionally scuttled the team’s near trade for A.J. McCarron, presumably because he believed the cost (a second- and third-round draft choice) was too high. Even if Brown is right about that, his efforts to intentionally sabotage the trade represent a massive breach of protocol and will only intensify the much-discussed rift between the team’s coaching staff and front office. But even if Brown did not act duplicitously, and even if the botched trade was simply due to human error, the fact that the coaching staff thinks Brown intentionally nixed the deal suggests things have gone beyond the point of no return in Cleveland.

Workout Notes: Patriots, Jets, Bills

September 6th, 2017 at 7:17pm CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots auditioned some players of note this week, including linebacker Akeem Ayers, quarterback Thad Lewis, and wide receiver Jeremy Ross (Twitter link via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com).

Ayers has some history with New England after playing on their 2014 Super Bowl championship team. Last year, Ayers appeared in all 16 games for Indianapolis and recorded two sacks.

Linebackers Nicholas Grigsby and Antwione Williams also showed their stuff for the Pats.

Here’s a look at Wednesday’s other workouts from around the NFL:

AFC Notes: Bills, Steelers, Bengals

August 31st, 2017 at 7:23pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Bills sent big-money defensive tackle Marcell Dareus home before their preseason game against the Ravens last week after he violated a team rule, leaving general manager Brandon Beane unsure if the two-time Pro Bowler is part of the solution. Asked this week if Dareus is on board with what the team is trying to build, Beane told Joe Buscaglia of WKBW (via Mark Inabinett of AL.com): “I don’t know. Time will tell. It was disappointing, as I said, after that game. He was contrite yesterday and said the right things. Actions speak louder than words. Time will tell. Hopefully, he is. We hope he’ll play to his potential. We know what kind of player he can be. We hope to see that on the field.” Even if the Bills are fed up with Dareus, who has multiple suspensions on his resume, moving on from the cornerstone defender in the near future would be extremely difficult because of the structure of his contract. The Bills inked Dareus to a six-year, $91.5MM extension in September 2015.

More from two other AFC cities:

  • The Steelers expect the NFL to fully reinstate wide receiver Martavis Bryant in advance of Week 1, GM Kevin Colbert told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette (Twitter link). The league suspended Bryant for all of last season for repeated violations of its substance abuse policy, conditionally reinstated the 25-year-old in April and gave him clearance to participate in the preseason three weeks ago. He hasn’t appeared in a meaningful game since a playoff loss to the Broncos on Jan. 17, 2016.
  • Cornerback Joe Haden‘s $5.75MM signing bonus is the only guaranteed portion of the three-year, $27MM contract the Steelers gave him Wednesday, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. The pact includes base salaries of $1.25MM, $9MM and $10MM, and it comes with a $1MM roster bonus that’s due in March 2018.
  • Linebacker Vontaze Burfict‘s suspensions call his future with the Bengals into question, Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com observes. Burfict is set to serve a three-game ban for the second straight campaign, and he has only played 58 of a possible 80 regular-season contests in his five-year career. Cincinnati’s going to have to consider Burfict’s lack of availability when deciding whether to re-sign him by next winter, then. The same goes for tight end Tyler Eifert, whom injuries have limited to 37 of a possible 64 games during his four seasons. Both players make the Bengals better when they’re on the field, which Terrell notes will make for tough decisions in each case.

Extra Points: Bortles, Kap, Rosen, Browns

August 17th, 2017 at 9:08pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Blake Bortles has struggled so much this summer that the Jaguars may have to consider benching the quarterback in order to avoid a catastrophic injury that would guarantee his fifth-year option for 2018, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk opines (Twitter link). Such an injury for Bortles this season would leave the Jags on the hook for upward of $19MM a year from now, which even a healthy version of the 2014 third overall pick hasn’t been worth during his three seasons in the NFL. Keeping Bortles away from the field to prevent any chance of the option triggering wouldn’t be a first in the league – the Redskins did it with Robert Griffin III in 2015.

Meanwhile, in light of Bortles’ second straight lackluster performance of the preseason on Thursday, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets that the Jaguars should bring free agent signal-caller Colin Kaepernick in to take the starting job. While Kaepernick’s social activism makes him a tough sell for many teams’ decision makers and fans, he at least possesses a superior on-field resume to both Bortles and backup Chad Henne.

More from around the game:

  • The NFL may soon have another Kaepernick on its hands in UCLA passer Josh Rosen, a scout told Matt Miller of Bleacher Report. Rosen, a junior, could end up as a first-round pick in next year’s draft, though his outspoken views might cause him to slide down the board, Miller notes. To cite one example, Rosen has openly derided President Donald Trump, who happened to appoint Jets owner Woody Johnson as an ambassador to the United Kingdom. The QB-deficient Jets figure to end up with a high pick in next year’s draft, which could make for an intriguing situation if Rosen draws their interest. UCLA head coach Jim Mora Jr. discussed his unique prospect as a guest Thursday on PFT Live, saying: “I’m never going to stifle his opinions. I just want to make sure he’s aware when he does say things publicly there are going to be ramifications.”
  • There’s a chance the Browns will have to open the season without one of their top players, Danny Shelton. The nose tackle suffered a knee injury that will sideline him for three to six weeks, Field Yates of ESPN reports (on Twitter). Shelton, the 12th pick in 2015, was a full-time starter for Cleveland in each of his first two seasons and posted a breakout 2016, ranking 15th in performance among Pro Football Focus’ 125 qualified interior D-linemen. He also piled up 59 tackles, 23 more than he amassed in 2015, and the first 1.5 sacks of his career.
  • Justin Britt‘s three-year, $27MM extension with the Seahawks includes $15MM in injury guarantees and $5MM fully guaranteed at signing, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

AFC North Notes: Bengals, Steelers, Browns

July 27th, 2017 at 5:49pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

When the NFL handed Bengals cornerback Adam Jones a one-game suspension last week, it appeared he would fight the ban. That won’t be the case, though, Jones announced Thursday. “You know, I take all accountability for what I did and my actions and my words. I accept it — the one game suspension — and I’m ready to move on, man,” Jones told reporters, including Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The 33-year-old’s suspension came after he was charged with three misdemeanors and a felony, though he was able to avoid jail time after pleading guilty to a lesser offense.

More from Cincinnati’s division…

  • Although the league conditionally reinstated Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant from a year-plus suspension in April, it still hasn’t cleared him to participate in training camp. General manager Kevin Colbert addressed the situation Thursday, stating: “Upon his conditional reinstatement in April, Martavis Bryant was made aware it was only the beginning of a process toward a return to being a full contributing member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. We have been informed by the NFL that Martavis is still in the process of being fully reinstated. Until that time, Martavis will be permitted to take part in off-the-field team activities at training camp, but he will not be permitted to practice or play in any games.”
  • As expected, Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell did not show up at training camp Thursday, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com was among those to report. The franchise-tagged star has not signed his $12.12MM tender, meaning he’s under no obligation to attend camp. Bell could follow in the footsteps of Chiefs safety Eric Berry and not report until the regular season is on the verge of beginning. That’s what Berry did last summer when he was unhappy with the fact that he had to play the season under the tag in lieu of a multiyear contract.
  • Browns wide receiver Ricardo Louis has hired super-agent Drew Rosenhaus to represent him, per Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com (Twitter link). As a fourth-round rookie last year, Louis started in three of 16 appearances and logged 18 catches for 205 yards. With three years left on his rookie deal and unspectacular production to date, a pay raise isn’t imminent for Louis.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Cowboys Notes: Martin, Smith, Witten

July 12th, 2017 at 12:55pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest out of Dallas:

  • ESPN.com’s Todd Archer opines wonders how much Gabe Jackson‘s new five-year, $56MM deal with the Raiders will impact Zack Martin‘s negotiations with the Cowboys. Martin is positioned to become the highest-paid guard in the NFL, but Dallas could theoretically control him through 2021 through the fifth-year option and three consecutive franchise tags. Finding the middle ground will be tough, but Archer notes that the team’s strong relationship with agents Tom Condon and R.J. Gonser could help speed things along. There have only been preliminary talks so far, but that could change early on in training camp.
  • More from Archer, who writes that making Jaylon Smith a two-down linebacker might be the best way for the Cowboys to work him into the lineup. Currently, Archer feels that expectations are probably a bit too high for the Notre Dame product considering the seriousness of the injury he is battling back from. Scaling back his workload could allow him to ease into the pace of the NFL game.
  • Looking down the road, the Cowboys still lack an obvious successor to tight end Jason Witten, Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News writes. The Cowboys are hoping that youngster Rico Gathers will turn into a quality tight end, but it’s not clear if the ex-basketball player has made enough strides on the gridiron to make this year’s roster and actually see his first taste of live NFL action. The Cowboys also have James Hanna and Geoff Swaim on the TE depth chart. They’re probably comfortable with their tight end situation for 2017, but it’s something they may have to address down the line.

NFLPA Discussed Alternative League As Lockout Contingency

July 9th, 2017 at 7:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

The NFL’s been operating on the latest CBA since the 2011 season, one that saw its offseason condensed due to the lockout. The NFLPA discussed a radical option should another lockout ensue when the league and the union are involved in the next CBA negotiations, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report.

Cole reports (via Twitter) a few among NFLPA brass discussed for more than two years the prospect of staging an alternative league that would operate if the owners lock the players out again. Said league would be a way for players to compensate for potential missed game checks, a factor that played into the negotiations during the 2011 lockout, but Cole notes this endeavor would require a major financial commitment from an outside party to fund the effort.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk broached this subject this weekend, one that’s continued to see windfall sums go to NBA players. NBA salaries, which mostly come fully guaranteed, are usually a talking point for NFLers during the offseason. This week brought the likes of Otto Porter and Tim Hardaway Jr. cashing in as restricted free agents, with the Wizards matching a Nets four-year, $106.5MM offer sheet to Porter and the Hawks declining to match a Knicks four-year, $71MM sheet for Hardaway.

Porter’s $106MM is fully guaranteed. No NFL player guaranteed to make as much as a zero-time NBA All-Star — and a player who’s served as the No. 3 scoring option on his own team — would naturally create some questions. Hardaway’s contract ensures he will make more per year than any NFL wide receiver is currently scheduled to receive.

Noting players’ fear of losing out on game checks weakened the NFLPA’s position in the 2011 negotiations, Florio writes the union needs to be planning ahead to dig in on a longer work stoppage this time. The CBA expires after the 2020 season, and the PFT writer offers that the players need to publicly pursue TV deals and stadium agreements to strengthen their stance against the owners for a better agreement on the next CBA. Greater percentages of contracts being guaranteed figures to be a key point in the ensuing negotiations.

The NBA-vs.-NFL argument has to factor in roster sizes, making NBA players’ skills inherently more valuable. But the NFL does bring in billions more in revenue. Chris Baker of the Buccaneers, who signed for three years and $15.75MM, and former Redskins teammate Terrance Knighton are among the latest to discuss the disparity between the leagues’ contracts (Twitter link). Neither made the point NBAers should make less, only that the NFL should pay its players more.

There is some precedent for NFL players staging outside games. The NFLPA organized two all-star games during the 1982 strike, one that wiped out seven games of the NFL season, but fewer than 10,000 fans attended each.

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