Randy Moss

Extra Points: Giants, Nelson, Packers, Moss

Some assorted notes from around the league as we wrap up the weekend:

  • Six-year veteran safety Corey Lynch will workout with the Giants on Monday, reports Mike Kaye of First Coast News (via Twitter). The 30-year-old entered the league in 2008 with the Bengals before a three-year stint with the Buccaneers.
  • If Jordy Nelson ends up missing the entire season, it’ll cost him $500K, according to Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com (via Twitter), noting that the contract tactic is used often by the Packers and 49ers.
  • Yahoo’s Charles Robinson wonders if the Packers would consider James Jones if the receiver was cut by the Giants (Twitter link).
  • Randy Moss sounds like he’d like to get back in the NFL, and the former receiver said as much during the Vikings broadcast on Sunday evening. “I actually have not lost the itch,” Moss said (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com). “I’ve been working out with a few guys over the offseason. I have been retired for the last two years, but you never know, Curt. But it’s the love of the game that I still have inside of me.”

Sunday Roundup: Jags, Cowboys, Randy Moss

PFR’s Ben Levine wrote yesterday that Jaguars owner Shad Khan expects his club to be active in free agency in 2015, and Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union followed up on Khan’s statements this morning. O’Halloran, noting that the Jags have nearly $30MM in cap room, a “figure that could double with rollover (unused) dollars, an increase in the cap and cleared space from veterans who will be released or not re-signed,” will have a whole host of opportunities to improve their roster next year.

Although Jacksonville is still far from a destination of choice for the league’s top free agents, Khan noted that it is not just the money that the team has to spend that excites him, it is the fact that 2014 has revealed the specific needs that the Jaguars need to address in the offseason. As our Rob DiRe pointed out yesterday, the team could look to add a defensive lineman, a free safety, and a pair of linebackers.

Now for some more links from around the league:

  • An earlier report from NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport claimed that 20 Cowboys players missed curfew on Friday night, but Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk writes that owner Jerry Jones said there were no curfew violations because there is no curfew. Meanwhile, head coach Jason Garrett said there is a curfew, at midnight. As Alper notes, this is not the first time Garrett and Jones have issued contradictory statements regarding the team’s inner machinations, and the Cowboys need a win today to divert attention from what should have been a non-issue.
  • In the wake of the mounting criticism surrounding Falcons head coach Mike Smith, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution sides with defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora, who believes the coaching staff is not the problem. Ledbetter writes, “If the Falcons get rid of the winningest coach in team history, it won’t be about winning football games. It will be about selling tickets and premium seat licenses to the new stadium.”
  • Marc Sessler of NFL.com says retired wideout Randy Moss, to whom the Seahawks made overtures after trading Percy Harvin, said he would come out of retirement if Peyton Manning and the Broncos came calling.
  • Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times writes that “how the season ends — and how [Marshawn] Lynch plays — may matter only so much in the debate” as to whether the Seahawks should retain Lynch after this season. Instead, “it will still come down largely to one thing — will the Seahawks think it worth it to pay Lynch $7 million in 2015 when he’s 29 years old? And will Lynch be happy playing out the final year or would he ask for more money?”
  • ESPN’s Ed Werder reports that 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith‘s suspension was not reduced as expected, thereby allowing him to participate in today’s game, because “while Smith did more than mandated in terms of community service, he did not fulfill the obligations assigned him in terms of his counseling protocol.”
  • Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that, although the Browns and Brian Hoyer have not engaged in contract talks since the summer, sources indicate the deal that Andy Dalton recently signed with the Bengals will be the benchmark for future negotiations.

AFC West Notes: Raiders, Moss, Chiefs

Former San Antonio mayor Henry Cisneros will lead a group of governmental and civic leaders set to meet with Raiders officials today to discuss the possibility of the team moving to Texas should talks with Oakland fall through, per Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. While Cisneros believes the idea of the Raiders coming to San Antonio is a “50-50 proposition,” it’s hard to imagine the team leaving California, and Jason Cole of Bleacher Report hears the same thing from three sources. According to Cole (Twitter link), owner Mark Davis is using San Antonio as leverage, and there’s “no way” the team moves there rather than staying in Oakland or relocating to Los Angeles.

Here are a few more Friday morning links from around the AFC West:

  • Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie’s 2014 draft might save his job, according to CSN Bay Area’s Scott Bair, who says the team’s first three picks – linebacker Khalil Mack, quarterback Derek Carr, and guard Gabe Jackson – look like “franchise fixtures.”
  • Could we see 37-year-old Randy Moss back on an NFL field as a player again? The former Pro Bowl receiver confirmed that the Seahawks reached out to him about a possible comeback after trading Percy Harvin, but said he’d only consider coming out of retirement if it meant having an opportunity to catch passes from a player like Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning. “I’m gonna tell you this, for me to come out of retirement for a player such as Peyton Manning, I would consider that,” Moss said last week on Fox Sports’ The Peter Schrager Podcast last week, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. “I really would consider it. I’m still in great shape, I can still run. I’m not the most old, but just by looking at the things I see on Sundays, I can still go out there and catch some passes and catch some touchdowns.”
  • The Chiefs had linebacker JoJo Dickson and defensive back Cannon Smith in for auditions this week, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter).

Matt Feminis contributed to this post.