Saints CB Delvin Breaux Returns To Practice
Working his way back from another significant injury, Delvin Breaux returned to Saints practice on Friday, Nick Underhill of The Advocate reports.
Breaux spent the first six weeks out of practice, per NFL IR-DTR rules, but is eligible to return for the Saints’ Week 9 game. The Saints are planning on bringing Breaux back from IR, and the third-year cornerback is on or ahead of schedule, Sean Payton said (via NOLA.com’s Josh Katzenstein, on Twitter).
The third-year corner went on IR before the season due to a fractured fibula, the second time he’s broken a bone in his leg in as many years.
New Orleans has won three straight and boasts an improved defense, one that would stand to be strengthened by Breaux’s return. First-round pick Marshon Lattimore and ex-UDFA Ken Crawley each rate as top-10 corners in the view of Pro Football Focus, representing a positive change for the Saints. Breaux was a well-regarded player in 2015 after a CFL career but struggled to shake off his leg injury last season.
NFC Notes: Peterson, Vikings, Kuechly
Bruce Arians came up with the idea for the Cardinals to acquire Adrian Peterson, doing so after his team’s blowout loss to the Eagles. Arians was driving to the team facility when the concept emerged, Lars Anderson of Bleacher Report notes. The Cardinals coach watched every Peterson carry with the Saints to make sure the 32-year-old future Hall of Famer still had enough to be a solution for an Arizona rushing attack that still ranks last in the league because of its anemic start. Arians then took the idea to Steve Keim, who called Saints GM Mickey Loomis, Anderson reports.
“He ran hard and could get something out of nothing,” Arians said. “We had finesse backs on our team. I was looking for that power guy. He was it, brother, he was it.”
Immediately installed as Arizona’s starter, Peterson turned back the clock and rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns in his Cardinals debut. The former five-time All-Pro said previously he wants to play into his late 30s, but that dialogue stopped in New Orleans. But Peterson has resumed that talking point now as a Cardinal, eyeing “four or five” more seasons.
“I felt like my ability was going to waste in New Orleans,” Peterson said, via Anderson. “The system just wasn’t a good fit for me. But I still want to play four or five more years. I still can run a high-4.3 40. And I’ve always loved getting the ball deep in the backfield, which is what we’re doing here. I feel like I’m built for this offense.”
Here’s the latest from the NFC, shifting to Peterson’s first two NFL employers.
- The Vikings are starting Case Keenum again this week, the team announced. Mike Zimmer, though, said he believes Sam Bradford will play again this season, per Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. This will be Keenum’s fifth start of the year. Bradford’s status has gone from somewhat surprising inactive in Week 2 to being potentially out for six weeks to having the knee be categorized as worse than what’s been reported. Bradford consulted with a specialist last week, Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com notes. The eighth-year quarterback saw this same specialist previously, per Zimmer. Teddy Bridgewater returned to practice but likely remains far away from playing in a game.
- Luke Kuechly will miss the Panthers‘ Week 7 tilt against the Bears after suffering a concussion in Week 6. David Mayo will replace Kuechly at middle linebacker, Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk notes. Kuechly has missed time because of concussions in each of the past two seasons but was progressing in the protocol earlier this week.
- Minnesota will also be without Stefon Diggs this weekend, with the Vikes’ No. 1 wide receiver set to miss a second straight game because of a groin injury.
- Saints practice squad offensive lineman Cameron Tom recently had his salary bumped to $27K+ per week, according to a source who spoke with Nick Underhill of The Advocate. He was previously making $7,200 per week. Assuming he stays on the taxi squad through the end of the season, he’ll earn $344K as opposed to $122K. His weekly pay is now equal to a minimum salaried player on the 53-man roster ($465K). It’s a sign that the Saints think highly of Tom and that other teams have thought about signing him away.
Zach Links contributed to this report.
Broncos LB Corey Nelson Out For Season
The Broncos have trotted out the same quartet of inside linebackers since the beginning of last season, but they will be a thinner group entering Week 6. Fourth-year contributor Corey Nelson will miss the rest of this season because of an elbow injury, Vance Joseph said Friday (via Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post, on Twitter).
Nelson will be placed on IR and undergo surgery, Jhabvala tweets, adding that the Broncos will promote linebacker Jerrol Garcia-Williams from their practice squad. Nelson suffered the injury during Thursday’s practice, Mike Klis of 9News tweets, one that also saw swing tackle Donald Stephenson tear a calf muscle.
A fourth-year linebacker who arrived in Denver as a 2014 seventh-round pick out of Oklahoma, Nelson played in every Broncos game since that ’14 season. This included work in each of the Broncos’ three playoff contests during their 2015 Super Bowl season. He mostly served as a depth piece, initially behind Danny Trevathan and Brandon Marshall before being the primary backup Marshall and Todd Davis once Trevathan signed with the Bears.
Nelson started six games last season, making a career-high 61 tackles, because of a Marshall hamstring injury. The Broncos have used Nelson mostly on special teams this season, playing him on only 44 defensive snaps. This will make 2015 UDFA Zaire Anderson the primary backup to Marshall and Davis going forward. Nelson will be a UFA after this season.
Denver signed Garcia-Williams as a UDFA out of Hawaii in May.
NFL: We Won’t Settle With Ezekiel Elliott
So much for a compromise. On Friday, NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart closed the door on a possible deal with Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott. 
“We’re not looking to make a deal, we’re very confident our arguments will prevail in court,” Lockhart said (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com).
A Wednesday report indicated that Elliott’s camp and the NFL have held informal settlement discussions at each stage of the legal process. However, if there were settlement talks taking place, they were not being done directly with Elliott or anyone especially close to him.
One source close to Elliott surmised to Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram that such talks may have been taking place between commissioner Roger Goodell and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. It’s not 100% clear if that’s the case, but, if those discussions did go down between Goodell and Jones, they were not fruitful.
For now, Elliott remains in limbo. Thanks to a temporary restraining order, he will be in action this Sunday against the Niners and the following Sunday against the Redskins.
Through five games, Elliott has 393 yards off of 105 carries. His 3.7 yards per carry average isn’t terrible, but it’s a far cry from his 5.1 yards per attempt as a rookie. San Francisco has allowed 112+ yards per contest, so there should be opportunities for him to crank things up at Levi’s Stadium.
Latest On Bengals TE Tyler Eifert
Tyler Eifert‘s season is over. But the good news is that he should be able to pick up where he left off in the spring. Doctors have told the Bengals tight end that he should be fully heathy without any further issues in the offseason, as Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. 
Eifert will become a free agent in March when his fifth-year option expires and his health will largely determine his future. When he’s on the field, Eifert is among the league’s most dangerous pass-catchers. However, he has played in just ten total games over the last two seasons. His back surgery earlier this month marked the third of his career.
Prior to his season-ending injury, Eifert had a chance at becoming the league’s highest-paid tight end in 2018, but any real chance of that is out the window. He’ll likely opt for a one-year pillow contract over a mid-range multi-year deal with the hope that he can make the big bucks in 2019. If he can get through workouts without setbacks, then he’ll make a nice chunk of change on that platform contract.
Extra Points: Rodgers, Bowman, Draft
Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone last weekend, and the Packers quarterback reportedly went under the knife today. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that Rodgers had surgery this afternoon, which coach Mike McCarthy had confirmed earlier this week. The quarterback suffered the injured on Sunday after being tackled by Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr.
Yesterday, McCarthy said that he wasn’t going to pursue a move for a quarterback until the team received clarity following Rodgers’ surgery. The team elevated QB Joe Callahan from the practice squad earlier this week, but the organization could look to acquire a signal-caller if Rodgers is indeed done for the season.
Some more notes from around the NFC…
- We have details on NaVorro Bowman‘s one-year deal with the Raiders, courtesy of ESPN.com’s Field Yates (Twitter link): $880K base salary, $120K signing bonus, $100K per game active bonus, $1MM in NLTBE (Not Likely To Be Earned) incentives. All in all, the deal can max out at $3MM.
- Speaking of Bowman, Albert Breer of The MMQB provides some reasoning for the 49ers decision to cut the veteran. Primarily, the organization is confident that first-rounder Reuben Foster can be an every-down linebacker. While the former Alabama standout had some “off-field questions” heading into the draft, Breer notes that Foster had impressed the team with his maturity, citing the player’s “diligence” in returning from an ankle injury. “We haven’t seen any of that,” the source said of the linebacker’s reported off-field issues. “He’s a leader.”
- Breer had “experienced NFL evaluators” rank the top quarterback prospects, and USC’s Sam Darnold barely edged out UCLA’s Josh Rosen for the top spot. Josh Allen (Wyoming), Luke Falk (Washington State), Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), Lamar Jackson (Louisville), and Ryan Finley (N.C. State) rounded out the list.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
NFC Notes: Avril, Redskins, Panthers, Sloter
After being placed on injured reserve earlier this week, there were whispers that Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril could decide to hang up his cleats. While the player subsequently denied those reports, coach Pete Carroll addressed the rumors earlier today.
“We have to wait and see on that,” Carroll said (via ESPN’s Brady Henderson). “That’s really up to the docs and Cliff and all that kind of stuff, and I’m one-thousand percent supportive of whatever we need to do here to help him, and so that’s why we’re taking our time. The IR thing gives him six weeks at least to figure whatever else we can figure out. But he’s not sure what’s best for him right now and he’s trying to find that out. We’re giving him hopefully a good sense and a comfort that we’re going to support it all the way throughout and figure out what’s best and all that.”
Let’s take a look at some more notes from around the NFC…
- The Redskins placed rookie defense end Jonathan Allen on the injured reserve earlier today, but ESPN.com’s John Keim reports that the team is hoping he’ll be back before the end of the season. Coach Jay Gruden said the team’s prognosis changed after the player underwent surgery on Wednesday night. “We got better news after the surgery that it wouldn’t be as lengthy as they typically are,” Gruden said. “That’s good news. But we still have to rehab it. He’s a big man and sometimes bigger guys take a little bit longer. We’ll wait and see. Hopefully we see him again, but it’s up to the rehab.”
- While it was initially believed that Kurt Coleman could miss up to a month, Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer reports that the Panthers safety could return this weekend after missing only a pair of games. Coleman suffered a sprained knee ligament earlier this month in a win over the Patriots. Meanwhile, linebacker Luke Kuechly made more progress towards passing the concussion protocol, as the Pro Bowler was seen riding a stationary bike earlier today.
- Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is confident that he’ll return this season, and the team may be forced to make a difficult roster decision. With the team currently rostering Sam Bradford and Case Keenum, third-stringer Kyle Sloter appears to be the odd man out. Of course, the undrafted rookie isn’t worried about future transactions, as he’s confident he’ll find a job elsewhere. “I’m not really too concerned day in and day out with my NFL future,’’ Sloter told Chris Tomasson of TwinCities.com. “I think that I’ll have a job.” The reporter also tweets that the organization could look to pass Sloter through waivers with hopes that he’ll land on their practice squad.
Latest On Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater
After suffering a career-threatening knee injury in 2016, Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is confident he’ll see the field this season. The signal-caller returned to practice on Wednesday, and he told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that he “didn’t feel rusty at all.”
“I’m very confident. I wouldn’t go out on that practice field if I wasn’t,” Bridgewater said (via NFL.com’s Marc Sessler). “I definitely believe I’ll play this year. It’s going to take some grit. That’s just the mindset.”
The quarterback also told Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that he could have practiced several weeks ago had he been eligible to come off the injured reserve (Twitter link). After having torn his ACL last August, there were some reports stating that Bridgewater’s career could be in jeopardy. Instead, the 24-year-old ultimately returned to the field in less than 14 months. Bridgewater was officially cleared to practice earlier this week.
Sam Bradford was acquired by Minnesota last season and has filled in admirably during Bridgewater’s absence. Last season, the former first-overall pick completed a league-leading 71.6-percent of his passes for 3,877 yards, 20 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He completed 32 of his 43 attempts for 382 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions in two games this season, but he’s struggled through injuries for much of the campaign. Case Keenum has been solid filling in, throwing for 1,134 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception.
While the Vikings may not be eager to rush Bridgewater back this season, there’s no denying he’d be vying for the starting gig in 2018. Bridgewater’s last full season came in 2015, when he threw for 3,231 yards, 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions. The former first-rounder also ran for 192 yards and three touchdowns on 44 carries.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/19/17
Today’s practice squad updates:
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: WR Rashard Davis
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/19/17
Today’s minor moves:
- Waived: DL Taniela Tupou
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: LB Deon Lacey
- Waived/injured: LB Tyrell Adams
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: TE Logan Paulsen