HEADLINES

Month: April 2024

North Notes: Ratliff, Lions, Levy, Ravens

October 30th, 2015 at 12:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff is currently a free agent, free to sign with any NFL team, but as details continue to trickle out about last week’s incident at Halas Hall, it appears increasingly unlikely that another team will give him a shot this season.

Ratliff showed up last Wednesday in no condition to practice, prompting the Bears to send him home. After the team made the decision to cut him, Ratliff returned to the club’s practice facility, saying at one point that “he felt like killing everybody in the building,” according to Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune, citing a report from Lake Forest Police.

Ratliff left Halas Hall and returned again later, at which time he reportedly said, “I am the devil” and that he “wished staff member’s children would die.” Although no charges were filed against Ratliff, the Bears did call local police, with team officials alerting police of their belief that the 34-year-old owns multiple firearms, according to Campbell.

As the Bears attempt to move on from last week’s incident, let’s check in on some other items from out of the NFL’s North divisions….

  • The idea that the Lions may consider parting with quarterback Matthew Stafford after this season is “comical,” GM Martin Mayhew told reporters today, including Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Mayhew also dismissed the possibility of a Calvin Johnson trade: “Both of those guys are very important to what we’re doing as a franchise, great people off the field, great teammates. And both of those guys have Hall of Fame potential. So to say that we should move those guys doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
  • DeAndre Levy, recovering from hip surgery, may not see the field again this season after playing just 17 regular season snaps. However, Mayhew doesn’t regret locking up the Lions linebacker to a long-term extension prior to the season, as Birkett writes. “He’s not the first guy to sign an extension and get hurt. That happens sometimes,” Mayhew said. “You hate when it happens, but certainly through no fault of his own. It’s a serious injury that he’s dealing with.”
  • It was a busy day for Mayhew, who also said that he expects the Lions to be buyers, not sellers, at next week’s trade deadline.
  • The Ravens‘ front office and coaching staff have received no phone calls and just one text message from Terrell Suggs since the veteran pass rusher tore his Achilles a month and a half ago, writes Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun. GM Ozzie Newsome says he isn’t worried about the lack of communication with Suggs, who may be rehabbing on his own, adding that he expects the 33-year-old to return to the team next season.

Pigskin Links: OSU, Ravens, Steelers

October 30th, 2015 at 11:41am CST by Zachary Links

Here at Pro Football Rumors, we deliver up-to-the-minute news on NFL transactions and high-quality original analysis. Each week, we also feature some of the best blog articles from around the web in our regular feature, Pigskin Links.

We’re looking for interesting reads on all things football from blogs of all sizes. While PFR is dedicated to player movement, Pigskin Links is open to pieces on all areas of the game. If you would like to suggest your blog post (or someone else’s) for Pigskin Links, send me an email with the link and a brief synopsis at PigskinLinks@gmail.com.

Here’s this week’s look around the football blogosphere…

Got a great football blog post that you want to see featured in next week’s Pigskin Links? Email it to Zach or tweet it to him: @ZachLinks.

GM: Lions Buyers, Not Sellers, At Deadline

October 30th, 2015 at 10:16am CST by Luke Adams

No team in the NFL has a record worse than the Lions’ 1-6 mark, but that doesn’t mean Detroit is packing it in for the season. Speaking today in London, general manager Martin Mayhew told reporters, including Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, that his club won’t go into rebuilding mode at next week’s trade deadline.

“We’re going to be probably more buyers than sellers and we’ve had some dialogue already about some guys around the league,” Mayhew said. “So we’re actively looking at those situations.”

Given the Lions’ record, Mayhew’s comments don’t make a ton of sense. Detroit would have to win just about all of its remaining games to contend for a playoff spot, so the GM insisting that the team is a buyer, rather than a seller, suggests he’s under some pressure to win now. For what it’s worth, Birkett notes that Mayhew “sounded like a man fighting to keep his job” during his conversation with the media.

According to Birkett, Mayhew also addressed the recent coaching changes on the offensive side of the ball, suggesting that former offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and the two offensive line coaches that were let go shouldn’t shoulder all the responsibility for the Lions’ poor season.

“Everybody’s involved in what has happened thus far this season, especially myself,” Mayhew said. “I’m responsible for our football operations, so it is on me what has happened this season. So it certainly is not those three guys (that were fired) are not the problem, they’re not the sole problem. There’s a lot of things we need to do to get better.”

Mayhew, who looked to his watch for effect today when he said that he’s “the GM right now,” has a history of being active on the trade market. In a league that typically doesn’t see many deadline deals, Mayhew has completed three in the last seven years. The Lions GM has also consummated eight trades so far in 2015, so we’ll see if he adds to that total by next Tuesday.

NFC East Notes: Randle, JPP, Giants

October 29th, 2015 at 9:14pm CST by Zachary Links

Here’s a look at the NFC East..

  • Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said that running back Joseph Randle has been excused from the team today to deal with a personal issue, Todd Archer of ESPN.com tweets. However, did not say whether it was related to his demotion from a starting role or possible discipline from the league. Even though Randle was at the team’s facility this morning, Garrett said he did not meet with the running back.
  • Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul looked good in practice on Thursday, but defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo isn’t going to rush things, as Ebenezer Samuel of the New York Post writes. “It’s going to take a little while, it’s really early now,” Spagnuolo said. “We want to be optimistic, and I know he (Pierre-Paul) is too, but I think we want to be smart about it. We’ll just see where it goes.”
  • Jordan Raanan of the Star-Ledger (on Twitter) can see the Giants making a trade between now and the deadline, depending on where they are in a few weeks. The Giants are currently 4-3 heading into Sunday’s contest against the Saints.

Dolphins Holding Off On Coaching Search

October 29th, 2015 at 8:30pm CST by Zachary Links

Ever since Joe Philbin was dismissed in Miami, there has been a great deal of speculation as to who his next successor might be. As it turns out, the Dolphins feel that they might have their next head coach already in the fold. The Dolphins plan to give interim head coach Dan Campbell a total of 4-6 weeks on the job before they start looking for a new coach, a source tells Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.

That means that tonight’s contest against the Patriots, which was already pivotal for the 3-3 Dolphins’ hopes in 2015, carries extra significance. Campbell is already two weeks into his tenure as the interim head coach, so he is potentially getting four more games to show what he can do. The early results under Campbell have been promising and the offense is performing as expected behind the running of Lamar Miller. Of course, with all due respect to the Titans and Texans, the Patriots are the ultimate test for the resurgent Dolphins.

If Campbell can lead Miami to victory over intra-divisional rivals New England and Buffalo, his odds of being retained for 2016 and beyond will certainly improve. If he doesn’t, one has to imagine that we’ll see some big-name coaches linked to the job once more, including Saints coach Sean Payton.

Saints To Sign Jo-Lonn Dunbar

October 29th, 2015 at 6:13pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints are set to sign linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar, according to a league source who spoke with Evan Woodbery of The Times-Picayune. Dunbar played for New Orleans from 2008 to 2011.

Dunbar, 30, was released by the Rams on Tuesday. He originally signed with the Saints as a UDFA in 2008 and he went on to play in 53 games for them with 27 starts. This time around, Dunbar is expected to provide the Saints with some much needed depth at linebacker. New Orleans linebackers David Hawthorne and Dannell Ellerbe have both missed practice this week with injuries and their status for Sunday’s game against the Giants is in doubt. Dunbar has played both inside and outside linebacker over the course of his career, but his role right now with the Saints might involve more special teams work.

Dunbar signed a two-year, $3.5MM deal with the Rams prior to the 2014 season that saw him reprise a similar role from 2013. Coming off the field on most passing downs while James Laurinaitis and Alec Ogletree played three-down roles, Dunbar was the Rams’ worst-rated starting linebacker, per Pro Football Focus, in both 2013 and 2014 for St. Louis. In 2012, however, PFF tabbed Dunbar as the Rams’ best linebacker. Dunbar played both strong- and weak-side positions with the Rams.

Submit Your Stuff To Pigskin Links

October 29th, 2015 at 5:11pm CST by Zachary Links

Here at Pro Football Rumors, we deliver up-to-the-minute news on NFL transactions and high-quality original analysis. Each week, we’re also featuring some of the best blog articles from around the web in our regular feature, Pigskin Links.

We’re looking for interesting reads on all things football from blogs of all sizes. While PFR is dedicated to player movement, Pigskin Links will be open to pieces on all areas of the game. If you would like to suggest your blog post (or someone else’s) for Pigskin Links, send Zach an email with the link and a brief synopsis at PigskinLinks@gmail.com.

AFC North Notes: Manziel, Burfict, Rice

October 29th, 2015 at 3:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier this afternoon, we learned that Steve Smith‘s agent, Derrick Fox, isn’t entirely convinced that the Ravens wideout will retire at season’s end. That’s not the only news out of the AFC North today though, so let’s dive in and round up a few more items…

  • Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel is not expected to receive discipline from the NFL for his role in an off-field incident earlier this month, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). However, the league has maintained that its investigation isn’t yet complete, so there’s no official word on Manziel yet.
  • Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who opened the season on the physically unable to perform list, returned to practice today, as Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. Burfict won’t play right away, but the Bengals now have three weeks to either activate him to their 53-man roster or shut him down for the year.
  • Despite not playing in an NFL regular season game since 2013, and not receiving a workout this year, former Ravens running back Ray Rice continues to train in the hopes of getting another shot, according to Luke Broadwater of the Baltimore Sun. Of course, even putting aside the elevator video that continues to haunt him, the longer Rice’s absence from the league lasts, the less likely it becomes that he’ll get another opportunity.

Agent Not Convinced Steve Smith Will Retire

October 29th, 2015 at 2:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Ravens receiver Steve Smith Sr. said earlier this year that this season would be his last in the NFL, and addressed that decision again last week by saying he’s “still on schedule” to retire at season’s end. However, there are still plenty of skeptics who don’t believe Smith will call it a career, and one of those skeptics is his agent, Derrick Fox, as ESPN’s Jim Trotter details.

“I know this guy better than anybody but his wife,” Fox said. “I’ve told him, ‘I don’t think that you’re really going to retire.’ The guy is just an insane competitor, and I think as long as his body works appropriately he’s really going to have a hard time next August saying, ‘Oh, wow. Guys are going to camp.’ He’s never experienced it in his entire life, and he’s got a lot left in the tank.”

As Fox tells it, Smith said early in his NFL career that he only planned to play for three or four years before retiring to spend time with his family, so he’s long been “committed to the concept” of retirement. However, the agent remains unconvinced that his client is ready to step away from the game quite yet. Asked to handicap the odds of Smith retiring after the 2015 season, Fox called it a 50-50 chance.

Even in his 15th NFL season, Smith does seem to have plenty left in the tank, as Fox suggests. In six games for Baltimore this season, the 36-year-old has grabbed 41 balls for 588 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 98 yards per game — the second-highest mark of his career.

Smith will have one year left on his three-year contract with the Ravens after 2015.

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