Cowboys Auditioning Kickers
The Cowboys are working out a group of kickers today as Dan Bailey deals with a back injury (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). Dallas will audition former Bears kicker Robbie Gould as well as former Redskins and Saints kicker Kai Forbath, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.
Before being cut by the Bears in early September, Gould spent the past 11 seasons in Chicago, converting 85-percent (276-323) of his field goals and 99-percent of his extra points (379-383). After a disappointing 2014 campaign where he only made 12 appearances and finished with a career-low field goal percentage, the veteran seemed to have bounced back in 2015. Gould connected on nearly 85-percent of his field goals, and his kickoffs continued to be as consistent as ever. For one reason or another, he was not kept on board for 2016.
Bailey missed a 47-yard field goal attempt against the 49ers on Sunday, but he did sink a 22-yard chip shot in the fourth quarter. It doesn’t sound like the Cowboys are looking to replace Bailey in the long term.
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Ravens Sign DB Marqueston Huff
The Ravens have plucked defensive back Marqueston Huff off of the Jaguars’ practice squad, as Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun tweets. Huff will take the place of cornerback Maurice Canady, who has been placed on IR with a knee injury. 
Huff, 24, entered the league as a fourth-round pick of the Titans in 2014. In two years with Tennessee, the defensive back appeared in 30 games and tallied 23 tackles, one interception, one sack, and four passes defensed. Prior to the 53-man deadline, the Titans bounced Huff along with other notables from the old regime like Justin Hunter, Bishop Sankey, and Dexter McCluster.
Canady was selected by Baltimore in the sixth round of this year’s draft. A four-year player at Virginia, Canady closed out his collegiate career with 37 tackles, three tackles for a loss, and six passes defensed. He did not record an official statistic in his one month with the Ravens.
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Johnny Manziel Has Suspension Lifted
The NFL informed clubs on the transaction wire that free agent quarterback Johnny Manziel‘s suspension has been lifted as scheduled, Tom Pelissero of USA Today tweets. However, Manziel is still subject to potential discipline under the personal conduct policy stemming from an assault allegation from his ex-girlfriend earlier this year. 
Of course, Manziel’s suspension was never the biggest barrier to his NFL return. The former Browns quarterback has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons recently, leading Cleveland to cut him loose this past offseason and substance abuse appears to be a major problem for him. His off-the-field problems have prompted his father to say that he should be put in jail and led two agents to drop him in the last year.
His last agent, Drew Rosenhaus, claimed that there was NFL interest in Manziel as recently as March. However, teams will need to see that Manziel has his life in order before even considering him at this juncture.
With just two accrued seasons, Manziel is eligible for a practice squad exception. If he were to sign a p-squad deal, he could earn as little as $6,900 per week.
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NFL To Now Test For Synthetic Marijuana
The league and the NFLPA agreed on Wednesday to some updated components within the drug program and the testing procedures associated with it.
Perhaps the main update is the inclusion of synthetic marijuana to the list of banned substances. Also known as Spice, Blaze or K2, the drug was not previously part of the league’s testing panel despite being illegal in most states. It also was involved in two strange sequences last year. Chandler Jones showed up at the Foxborough Police Dept. seeking medical attention after having reportedly used it, and former Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman was involved in a hit-and-run incident after using the substance, per a police report.
This appears to tighten the league’s grip on marijuana despite the country loosening its. The agreement also increases the scope of the testing for HGH, which was already a part of the banned-substances list.
Additionally, players must now provide urine samples within four hours of being notified for a substance-abuse test. Recording of the tests is also not permitted, clearing up a subject that emerged when James Harrison attempted to film a drug test in May after having done so in the past. The filming prohibitions apply to both tests for substances of abuse and performance-enhancing drugs.
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Minor NFL Transactions: 10/5/16
Here are today’s minor moves.
- The Chargers signed cornerback Steve Williams and released nose tackle Ryan Carrethers, as Eric Williams of ESPN.com tweets.
- The Bears promoted fullback Paul Lasike from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, as Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets.
- Ravens tight end Daniel Brown has been promoted from the taxi squad to the active roster, as Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun tweets.
- The Browns signed offensive lineman Anthony Fabiano off of their practice squad and waived defensive lineman Gabe Wright, as Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com tweets.
Vikings Not Yet Planning To Try Out Kickers
Blair Walsh‘s struggles have not prompted Mike Zimmer to seek outside competition to push the embattled kicker, yet, Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
The third-year Vikings coach said it’s not yet time to invite competition for the team’s fifth-year kicker despite his issues since the Vikes’ painful wild-card defeat.
Walsh has a first-team All-Pro honor, in 2012, on his resume and has only missed five field goals in a season once — in 2014. Even last year before the disastrous 27-yard miss that would have beaten the Seahawks, he made 34-of-39 tries. However, the Vikings’ stellar start this season hasn’t included one from their place kicker.
The 26-year-old has missed three field goals (8-for-11) and two extra points, giving him the 28th-best conversion rate in the league. While he made all three of his field goals against the Packers and Panthers in Weeks 2-3, he missed from 46 against the Giants on Monday and from 37 against the Titans in Week 1. Walsh missed four PATs last season.
Minnesota signed Walsh to a four-year, $14MM extension last summer, with the deal keeping him under contract with the franchise until the 2019 season. At $3.25MM per year, Walsh is the league’s fifth-highest-paid kicker in terms of AAV.
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AFC North Notes: Thomas, Eifert, Ravens, Pouncey
The Browns lost more of their core talents this offseason as a new front office attempts another reboot. Joe Thomas didn’t necessarily agree with the decisions to let some of those players go and mentioned previous front office’s apathy toward keeping past free agents as a reason for where the team resides today.
“That’s one of the frustrations that I’ve had over the years, and that’s the problem when you constantly are hitting the reset button is guys that are really good players like that end up falling through the cracks or going to other teams because any time a new staff comes in basically they wipe out the middle class,” Thomas said, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. “They keep a couple of your superstars and then they want everyone else being a rookie so that they can try to develop them.
“When you keep doing that over and over again, you really lose all your middle class on your team. So guys like Buster Skrine, Jabaal Sheard, D’Qwell Jackson, Jordan Cameron, Travis Benjamin … disappeared, even though those were the guys that you drafted them, spent the time developing them and right when they’re hitting stride in the peaks of their career, they end up going somewhere else and having great success.”
Thomas, who continues to be the subject of trade rumors, and Joe Haden remain two of the only long-tenured Browns. The franchise also let Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz walk this spring. Cleveland possesses an NFL-most $49.3MM in cap space.
Here’s the latest from the Browns’ AFC North rivals.
- Tyler Eifert suffered a separate setback from the ankle problem he’s dealt with for months, but the Pro Bowl tight end hasn’t given up on making his 2016 Bengals debut despite having encountered back trouble, Bob Holtzman of ESPN.com reports. However, Holtzman adds the tight end sitting Sunday against the Cowboys remains the most likely result.
- Safety Winston Guy worked out for the Ravens, joining wide receiver Kenny Bell, who was visiting, Field Yates of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). The Colts cut Guy last month.
- The Steelers gave Maurkice Pouncey reps at right tackle in practice, per Chris Bradford and Christopher Mueller of the Beaver County (Pa.) Times. Marcus Gilbert and swing man Ryan Harris are considered questionable for Sunday, leaving Chris Hubbard as the next in line and Pouncey as the in-case-of-emergency option. Pouncey has played guard in a game before but never tackle, although he nearly lined up there in a 2012 tilt against the Cowboys.
- Robert Griffin III will be evaluated to see if he needs surgery. The fifth-year quarterback remains unlikely to return until 2017, but that timeline isn’t certain yet.
Luke Joeckel Set For Knee Surgery
The prospects of Luke Joeckel returning to the Jaguars later this season after a stay on IR dimmed considerably Wednesday. Joeckel will undergo a knee surgery to repair a “major” MCL injury, a torn meniscus and possible ACL tear, Chris Mortetnsen of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter).
Placed on IR on Tuesday, the fourth-year player was believed to be a candidate to return this season. This surgery could well put a halt to that and send him into free agency on a low note.
The Jaguars passed on the former No. 2 overall pick’s fifth-year option in May, making this season a pivotal one for the formerly maligned tackle-turned-guard. Pro Football Focus rated Joeckel as its No. 44 guard through four games. That’s better than the site’s impression of him as a tackle, but the small sample size at guard could still could Joeckel’s position future if he hits the market in March.
He’d still worked at tackle extensively this year due to Kelvin Beachum‘s injury problems. Joeckel started 39 games for the Jags since entering the league in 2013.
Third-year player Patrick Omameh could step into Joeckel’s spot between Joeckel and center Brandon Linder. He’s started a game for the Jags this season and is the only player standing between the former Texas A&M standout and two UDFAs on the depth chart.
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Freeman: Colts Were Uninterested In Reunion
Jerrell Freeman sensed the Colts were planning to move on without him after they signed Nate Irving to a three-year, $7.25MM deal last spring. But he still tried to give them a chance to exceed the Bears’ offer a year later.
“I went into free agency and it was pretty much, ‘Good luck,’” Freeman said, via Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. “Even when I did get the Bears’ offer and we tried to go back to them. They were like, ‘Yeah, this is a good deal; take it.’ I guess it [was] over.”
The Bears ended up signing the 30-year-old inside linebacker to a three-year, $12MM accord. He’d hoped to stay with the Colts after leading or being second on the team in tackles from 2012-15 but saw the team move on and go with Irving and Sio Moore. Both are no longer with Indianapolis after recent cuts.
Freeman played for the $2.35MM RFA tender last season while seeing Irving, a former third-round Broncos pick who was coming off a season-ending injury at the time, receive the multiyear commitment. The Colts also traded a sixth-round pick to the Raiders for Moore, whom they cut Tuesday.
Indianapolis’ initial offer to retain Freeman — submitted several weeks before free agency began — was the three-year, $12MM commitment the Bears proposed. But the Chicago deal included $2.5MM in incentives that proved to be the difference, Holder reports, who adds Ryan Grigson preferred to spend Freeman’s money on cornerback Patrick Robinson.
“They ended up signing Nate and paying him more than I made that year. That kind had me off a little bit,” Freeman said. “Ah man, is that how it is? Later on after that year, it was one of those take-it-or-leave-it-type things. I was like, four years and that’s how it is? Take or leave it?”
In the teams’ Week 5 matchup, the Bears will deploy Freeman and fellow UFA signing Danny Trevathan at inside linebacker, while the Colts may use fourth-round rookie Antonio Morrison alongside D’Qwell Jackson. Freeman has 41 tackles this season after making 112 in 13 games in 2015.
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Latest On Marcell Dareus
Marcell Dareus will return to his place on the Bills’ defensive line this weekend after missing four games due to a drug suspension. But Wednesday brought some updates in the defensive tackle’s timeline.
The sixth-year lineman said in August his four-game ban stemmed from missing a drug test, but Tim Graham of the Buffalo News reports (on Twitter) that wasn’t the case. Multiple drug-program violations occurred, per Graham, to cause the league to suspend the interior-line stalwart.
This was Dareus’ second drug-related suspension in two years. The reported multiple violations happened in between his first and second bans, causing the lengthier absence, per Graham (Twitter link).
Additionally, Dareus did not end up checking into rehab despite what he said in August. Instead, the 26-year-old nose tackle received treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to Jarrett Bell of USA Today.
Dareus worked with an ADHD expert and a life coach, per Bell, who adds the top current Bills defensive lineman sought the counsel of the greatest defender in Bills history. Dareus stayed with Bruce Smith at his Virginia home for four days, Bell reports. Dareus was first diagnosed with ADHD while at Alabama.
“I’m a better person, a better teammate, a better player,” Dareus told Bell. “I just want to show them. Talk is cheap. I’m at the point where I have to do it.”
Dareus will return to a Bills team that’s now 2-2 despite all of the turmoil it’s encountered this season via injuries, suspensions and the firing of OC Greg Roman.
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