The Eagles have announced their first wave of roster cuts:
Knott is somewhat of a surprise given his special-teams contributions last season, but he dealt with a hamstring injury during training camp and faces a four-game suspension.
Patriots third-year pass rusher Chandler Jones, who is being used as a stand-up rusher this season, had six tackles and two sacks in a win over Carolina last night, earning praise from Bill Belichick: “Chandler’s worked really hard at whatever we’ve asked him to do since he’s been here. Last year, he also played some inside over the guard. He’s played outside over the tackle or the tight end, up, down. He’s a versatile player and he’s very conscientious to try to do whatever we ask him to do and playing in all those different spots. He’s a very athletic player with good length, good playing strength so he has a lot of versatility athletically, he has a lot of versatility mentally.” CSNNE’s Greg Bedard believes Jones is poised to become an elite defender.
Here’s some more news and notes produced after Friday night’s batch of preseason games:
Let’s take a look at the latest from the NFL’s two North divisions as Ndamukong Suh continues his reign of terror…
8:58pm: Binding bids are due September 9, updates Kryk. If the the Bills trust wants a new owner in place to be approved at the owner’s meetings, only about a week remains for the process to conclude. If the owners are unable to vote on a new Bills owner by October 7-8, the Buffalo franchise may not have an owner until December.
8:25pm: While Mike Ozanian of Forbes reported this morning that the Toronto group vying for the Bills had bid just $820MM for the franchise, John Kyrk of the Toronto Sun disputes that figure, writing that the clan including Jon Bon Jovi, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment head Larry Tanenbaum, and the Rogers Family placed a bid between $1-1.1 billion. Per Kryk, each group was allowed to place either specific bid, or one that fell within a range, with the Toronto party presumably choosing the latter.
Kryk didn’t fully dispute Ozanian’s claim that Sabres owner Terry Pegula had placed a $890MM bid, but notes that if that was the actual figure, it is considerably less than the Toronto group’s proposal. Kryk also writes that he thinks initial reports regarding the bidding process, which indicated Pegula’s offer was closer to $1.3 billion, are probably closer to the truth. In fact, it’s possible that Pegula, like the Bon Jovi group, used a sliding bid, an offered something like $1.1-1.3 billion.
Regardless of the details, none of the bids offered are binding; final, binding bids are due early next month. For what it’s worth Forbes recently placed a $935MM valuation on the Bills, so a reported bid of $890MM does sound low. It’s doubtful we will learn any specific details of the process until we get closer to the conclusion of the sale.
Earlier this offseason, our Luke Adams examined the largest 2014 cap hits by position on offense, scrutinizing the most expensive individual cap charges for next year. The list that follows, while along the same lines, tabulates the largest cap hits by position group. Some overlap in the lists is unavoidable — if a single player has an exorbitant cap charge, it will inevitably raise the team’s cap hit for his position as a whole.
Still, it’s important to look at how teams invest at certain positions, and how much value they place on supplementing highly-paid star players with competent depth. For example, Andre Johnson has the second-highest 2014 cap hit among wide receivers, but the Texans are nowhere to be found in the top three highest-spenders for the receiver position as a whole. In fact, Houston ranks just 15th in terms of receiver spending, which gives some indication that the team has failed to find suitable talent with which to surround Johnson.
One final interesting note: of the four 2014 Championship game qualifiers (Broncos, Patriots, Seahawks, 49ers), only one shows up on any of the following lists (49ers, tight end). This is notable because it speaks to the importance of spreading the wealth — not placing too high a value on any one position and equally distributing cap space to each part of the team. Without behemoth contracts that push cap limits, clubs are able to build depth in all areas, an approach that has shown to be largely successful.
Ben Roethlisberger‘s cap hit of $18.895 obviously helps propel Pittsburgh to the top of this list, but backup Bruce Gradkowski is no slouch — his $1.65MM cap charge is second among No. 2 signal-callers. The Giants’ Eli Manning ($20.4MM) has the second-largest cap hit in the NFL, trailing just Ndamukong Suh. The Rams are the outlier here, as Sam Bradford‘s exorbitant contract is a result of him being the final No. 1 overall draft selection under the previous contractual bargaining agreement.
Adrian Peterson is in a class of his own among running backs — his contract counts over $14MM against the cap. Arguably the second-best RB in the league, LeSean McCoy ($9.7MM), buoys Philadelphia to the second-place ranking, although the rest of the Eagles’ running backs are also well compensated — Darren Sproles and James Casey combine for a $5.985MM cap hit. Just as at quarterback, the No. 3 slot on the RB list is an aberration, as the deals Carolina handed out to DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart now appear regrettable.
Mike Wallace‘s five-year, $60MM deal with Miami includes a massive 2014 cap hit of $17.25MM, while No. 2 wideout Brian Hartline carries a cap charge of over $6MM. Washington also has two highly-paid WRs, as DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon count nearly $14MM combined against the cap. Despite Calvin Johnson‘s mammoth contract, his 2014 cap hit is only fourth-highest among wideouts, behind Wallace, Johnson, and Percy Harvin.
San Diego and San Francisco each have established tight ends backed up by promising young pass-catchers. Antonio Gates will count $7.663MM against the Chargers’ cap, while No. 2 TE Ladarius Green accounts for just $683K — third tight end John Phillips, however, carries a cap charge of $1.842MM. Vernon Davis has the second-highset cap hit on the 49ers at $7.343MM, while second-year player Vance McDonald will count only $818K against San Francisco’s cap. Marcedes Lewis, while an adept pass-blocker, is probably overpaid, and leads to Jacksonville’s second-place listing among the tight end group.
Cleveland left tackle Joe Thomas and center Alex Mack have the highest 2014 cap hits at their respective positions, meaning the Browns top the offensive line list despite modest cap charges for the rest of their front five. LT Jason Peters will count more than $8MM against Philadelphia’s 2014 cap, and the rest of the Eagles’ line is also well-paid — the other four starters will each count between $2.6MM and $6.2MM against the cap this year. Trent Williams, still playing under his rookie contact, leads Washington’s O-line with a $10.98MM cap charge, the second-highest on the Redskins.
Contract information from Over the Cap was used in the creation of this post.
Titans‘ quarterback Jake Locker has been underwhelming in his short career, and how he plays this year will determine his future with the team. If he continues to disappoint, rookie Zach Mettenberger could be an option, writes Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. Even still, Mettenberger will likely have to compete for the starting job going forward into 2015, even if Locker is not retained.
Here are some other notes from around the NFL:
The Josh Gordon saga continues on, as a decision regarding his suspension is not likely to be handed down this week as expected, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).
The All-Pro wide receiver has been in limbo since his hearing concluded way back on August 4th. At that time, a decision was expected to come between one and three weeks. However, the third week is coming to an end, and Browns’ fans are still waiting to hear if their best player will set foot on the field at all in 2014.
Hopefully for all parties, Monday the 25th will be the day that the decision comes down and all this waiting will come to an end.
There is still a chance that the suspension is reduced in some way, especially in the aftermath of Ray Rice‘s two-game suspension. The thinking is that a suspension eight times as long for substance abuse will only add to the hysteria over the brevity or Rice’s suspension.
Our readers at Pro Football Rumors overwhelmingly believe the suspension will be cut in half at least during the potential settlement.
Hearing officer Harold Henderson is thought to be the cause for the delay, according to Rapoport (via Twitter). Henderson was reported to be a reason for the delay a week ago when the transcription process was called into question.
2:40 PM: Houston’s negotiations could be pushed along if another top pass rusher secures a new contract to set the market, according to Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter). Either the Texans’ J.J. Watt or the Rams’ Robert Quinn could be in line for an extension soon, that would serve as a guideline to the annual salary a terrorizing pass rusher is worth.
12:20 PM: Chiefs outside linebacker Justin Houston had hoped to sign a new contract with the team before the regular season gets underway, but the two sides remain so far apart in negotiations that there’s virtually no chance of an agreement within the next couple weeks, reports Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). According to La Canfora, Houston will play out his current deal, which expires at season’s end.
Houston, 25, has racked up 21 sacks in 27 games for the Chiefs in the last two seasons, earning spots in consecutive Pro Bowls. The Georgia product ranked as the league’s best all-around 3-4 outside linebacker in 2013, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), scoring positive grades against the run, in pass coverage, and as a pass rusher. However, since he was a third-round pick in 2011 and didn’t have a fifth-year option on his contract, Houston is entering the final year of his rookie contract and will earn a base salary of just $1.4MM in 2014.
La Canfora had previously reported earlier in August that Houston and the Chiefs were far apart in contract talks, so it appears not much progress has been made in recent weeks. As the CBSSports.com scribe notes (via Twitter), quarterback Alex Smith is also still without an extension, so if the Chiefs don’t lock him up either, the team could face a tough decision at year’s end on which player gets the franchise tag.
The Chiefs’ offensive line took another hit today, as the team confirmed that offensive lineman Donald Stephenson has been suspended for four games. According to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter), the penalty is for a violation of the league’s policy on performance enhancing substances.
Stephenson, who started 14 of the 32 games he played for the Chiefs in his first two seasons with the team, was penciled in as the team’s starting right tackle heading into the 2014 campaign. Having lost regulars like Branden Albert, Geoff Schwartz, and Jon Asamoah in free agency, Kansas City has some question marks on its line this year, and now will have to incorporate yet another new starter, with Stephenson out of the mix for the first month. Former Texan Ryan Harris, who signed a month ago, looks like he’ll be next in line at right tackle, though the Chiefs’ remaining preseason action should help determine that definitively.
Addressing Stephenson’s suspension, the team released a succinct statement this afternoon: “This morning the NFL notified the team of Donald Stephenson’s four-game suspension. Obviously losing Donald is disappointing, but we are in full compliance with the league’s policy. We will have no further comment on the situation.”
Typically, when contract agreements are first reported, it takes just a matter of hours before those deals become official. But linebacker Vontaze Burfict, whose extension with the Bengals was reported on Wednesday, has yet to finalize his new contract with the club and has been missing from practice for the last three days with a stomach virus. According to head coach Marvin Lewis, it’s probably just a matter of time until the deal gets formally announced (link via Richard Skinner of Cincinnati.com).
“As you know how we believe it here, until the club and the player have signed off, it’s not signed off,” Lewis said. “I would guess we expect him to sign. Obviously the agent believes he has a deal, so, we didn’t release it.”
As we wait for official word on Burfict’s reported extension, let’s check in on a few other items from out of the AFC….