NFL Workout Updates: 11/28/17
Here are today’s workout updates, courtesy of veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer unless otherwise noted.
Chicago Bears
- WR Mekale McKay, WR Canaan Severin, WR Rodney Smith (Twitter link)
Cleveland Browns
- LB Lavar Edwards, LB Jayrone Elliott, LB Marcus Rush, DE Devin Taylor (Twitter link)
Detroit Lions
- WR Eric Rogers, WR Daikiel Shorts
Indianapolis Colts
Kansas City Chiefs
- DT Mike Purcell (Twitter link)
New York Jets
- DL Marcus Hardison
Seattle Seahawks
- LB Kenneth Olugbode, TE Hayden Plinke, RB Jhurell Pressley, RB Brandon Radcliff (Twitter link)
Tennessee Titans
- DL Stefan Charles, DL Johnny Maxey
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/28/17
Here are today’s minor moves.
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed off Saints’ practice squad: LB Gabe Martin
- Signed: RB Bronson Hill
- Waived: S Harlan Miller
- Waived: G/T Vinston Painter
Chicago Bears
- Waived: WR Tre McBride
Denver Broncos
- Released from IR: TE A.J. Derby
Indianapolis Colts
- Claimed: TE Ross Travis
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: TE Orson Charles
New England Patriots
- Signed off Ravens’ Practice Squad: LB Nicholas Grigsby
- Signed: OL Jason King
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: WR Isaac Whitney
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: DT Rodney Coe
- Waived: DT Garrison Smith
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Bobo Wilson
- Signed: FB Alan Cross
- Waived: TE Luke Stocker
Jeremy Langford Visits Giants, Dolphins
Jeremy Langford has not played in a game this season, but the former Bears starter made two trips about possible employment this week.
The free agent running back made a trip to the Big Apple to visit the Giants on Monday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets, and then trekked to Miami for a Dolphins summit, per veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer (on Twitter).
Langford has not been signed, but two teams with dire running back situations displayed interest. The Ravens carried Langford on their practice squad, and briefly on their 53-man roster, earlier this season before the sides parted ways after a Langford injury. The Dolphins saw both Damien Williams and Senorise Perry due to injury against the Patriots, leaving Kenyan Drake as the only healthy back on their roster.
The soon-to-be 26-year-old running back has 1,158 career yards from scrimmage and 11 touchdowns in two seasons.
Fallout From Eli Manning Benching
The second-longest start streak in quarterback history will come to an end after the Giants decided to bench Eli Manning in favor of Geno Smith. This naturally leads to speculation that the 36-year-old quarterback has played his final down with the team. In his Tuesday press conference, Ben McAdoo did not specify the role Jerry Reese and John Mara played in making the move to bench Manning, via Ed Werder (on Twitter). McAdoo merely said all parties were in agreement. The second-year Giants coach also said the team is not considering waiving Manning, who has two years and more than $40MM remaining on his contract. Smith is not under contract beyond 2017.
Here’s more from the Giants cutting the cord on Manning after 210 starts.
- Tom Coughlin came out in support of his former quarterback and said he was “very upset” to hear the news Manning had been benched. “My sentiments are totally with Eli Manning,” the Jaguars‘ executive VP said (via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo, on Twitter). “I love the kid. He is a class act. He is a two-time Super Bowl champion. He is the finest, most humblest young man in that locker room. I haven’t followed the Giants. I know it’s a disappointing year by my thoughts are strictly with Eli. I’m very upset about when I heard that.” This stands to naturally fuel buzz about Manning being a 2018 Jaguars target. Coughlin running the Jags, who can cut bait on Blake Bortles‘ non-guaranteed 2018 option before free agency, and their rebuilt defense thriving makes north Florida a logical fit.
- Manning has a no-trade clause in his contract, but after Tuesday’s events, the two-time Super Bowl MVP may be more inclined to waive it for a chance at another starting job. Conor Orr of SI.com lists the Jaguars as a fit, while placing the Broncos and Cardinals as the other top two destinations. The Broncos are in a similar place to the Jags, only with their quarterback woes having removed them from a Super Bowl perch, and the Cardinals will likely again be waiting on a Carson Palmer retirement decision. The Palmer-to-Manning switch would be interesting given that Palmer is only a month older than Manning.
- As for a Manning/Coughlin reunion, Joel Corry of CBS Sports tweets the Jags could create $19MM in cap space by cutting Bortles after this season. That option doesn’t become fully guaranteed until Day 5 of the 2018 league year (March 14). Prior to a Bortles cut, the Jags have just more than $30MM in projected 2018 cap space. The Broncos have $32MM-plus, and the Cardinals — with Palmer’s 2018 salary on their books as of now — stand to hold more than $35MM.
- This decision was certainly brought down from higher than McAdoo, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com writes, and the current HC feels like the next scapegoat for the Giants’ woeful season. Reese should be on the chopping block as well, Graziano writes, noting that were that to happen, there would be front office and scouting department turnover as well as a likely McAdoo ouster.
- Manning will be due a $5MM roster bonus on March 14 if he’s still on the Giants, per Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Yates adds the Giants can save $9.8MM if Manning is cut or traded, but they’ll be taking on $12.4MM in that scenario. Manning has a $22.2MM cap figure in 2018 and a $23.2MM number in ’19. Manning’s $10.5MM base salary next season is non-guaranteed.
NFL Reduces Michael Crabtree, Aqib Talib Suspensions To One Game
The Raiders will have Michael Crabtree back in their starting lineup come Week 14. The NFL reduced the wideout’s two-game suspension to one on Tuesday night, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports, adding Aqib Talib‘s two-game ban has also been trimmed to one (Twitter links).
Crabtree will only miss this week’s game against the Giants. The Raiders face the Chiefs in Week 14. Talib will miss Sunday’s Broncos-Dolphins game but be back for Denver’s Week 14 game against the Jets.
The two essentially shared culpability in the widespread brawl that featured the rivals in a rare one-on-one fight scene in the end zone. But a day after the suspensions were handed out, the Raiders and Broncos received word the NFL has softened its stance upon appeals voiced from James Thrash (representing Talib) and Derrick Brooks (representing Crabtree).
Talib will save $570K as a result of Tuesday’s adjusted punishment. Crabtree will save $367K. This will be Talib’s second one-game suspension in three seasons. He missed a November 2015 game as a result of on-field actions against the Colts. Crabtree will miss his second game as a Raider. The veteran pass-catcher played in each of Oakland’s 32 regular-season games during the 2015 and ’16 seasons before missing Week 4 of this season — against the Broncos.
Both Vance Joseph and John Elway stood by Talib during his appeal hearing, Mike Klis of 9News tweets.
The Raiders still could be facing the prospect of playing without Crabtree or Amari Cooper for the first time since the duo became Raiders two seasons ago. Cooper is dealing with a concussion and a sprained ankle. The Broncos will turn to Bradley Roby to start opposite Chris Harris, with third-round rookie Brendan Langley — whom Cooper scored a short touchdown against during Sunday’s Raiders win — filling in as the nickel presence.
Chargers Sign K Travis Coons To P-Squad
The Chargers worked out veteran kickers on Tuesday and are planning to sign Travis Coons to their practice squad, Field Yates of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
This will serve as a Nick Novak insurance policy. Novak is dealing with a back injury, one that caused him to kick through noticeable pain against the Cowboys. Eric Williams of ESPN.com tweets the Chargers believe Novak can kick against the Browns on Sunday, but Coons will be a backup plan.
Williams reported the Bolts were holding a kicker workout, and veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer reports (on Twitter) Sam Ficken, Marshall Koehn and Jason Myers joined Coons for the showcase. The Bolts appeared to have called in a long snapper, Jeff Overbaugh, to work with them as well, per Balzer.
Coons will take his place on the Chargers’ 10-man taxi squad.
He worked out for the Lions earlier this season after spending time with the Rams during training camp. The Raiders also rostered Coons, who last kicked for the 2015 Browns. The 25-year-old served as Cleveland’s kicker for all 16 games that season. He made 28 of 32 field goals as a rookie, but Patrick Murray beat him out for the job during the 2016 preseason.
This workout featured different kickers than the October gathering in L.A., arranged because of a Novak ankle ailment. At that point, the Bolts hosted initial 2017 kicking option Younghoe Koo, along with Andrew Franks. Myers attended both workouts. Former Charger specialist Josh Lambo replaced Myers in Jacksonville.
49ers To Start Jimmy Garoppolo In Week 13
After a brief cameo caused by a C.J. Beathard injury, Jimmy Garoppolo will begin his tenure as the 49ers’ starter.
Kyle Shanahan notified the quarterbacks Garoppolo will start against the Bears, Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee reports (on Twitter). This will mark only Garoppolo’s third career start, but it could well be the first of many as a 49er. Shanahan announced the move, and it looks like Garoppolo will have a five-game sample upon which to judge going into the offseason.
Shanahan and John Lynch have been openly cautious about deploying their recently acquired passer, but management appears ready to begin the experiment. While they’ve made it clear this isn’t an audition, with the franchise tag being the likely offseason outcome to further judge if Garoppolo is the long-term solution, the franchise will begin to see if its quarterback of the future is presently on the team.
Garoppolo has thrown 96 career passes, being 2-for-2 with a touchdown toss as a 49er, but has only played one game from start to finish — the 2016 Patriots opener against the Cardinals. He suffered an injury against the Dolphins the following week.
This game being at Soldier Field will mark a unique moment for the Eastern Illinois-developed quarterback; Garoppolo grew up in nearby Arlington Heights, Ill.
Beathard started the previous five games for the 49ers, who acquired Garoppolo midway through that stretch. The rookie suffered knee and hip injuries against the Seahawks and may not have been able to go this week anyway. He figures to return to the backup role he occupied when the season began. Beathard completed 55 percent of his passes and has a 4-to-6 touchdown pass-to-interception ratio for the 1-10 team.
NFC East Notes: Redskins, Cousins, Cowboys
The Redskins are reportedly no longer considering the $28.8MM transition tag for Kirk Cousins in 2018. Instead, Washington wants to evaluate the quarterback down the stretch of the season to determine whether it wants to use the $34.5MM franchise tag on him, sign him to a long-term deal, or allow him to test free agency unencumbered. That’s just fine with Cousins.
“You know, I can understand the unique situation that it is, and you’re trying to find value in every player at every position,” Cousins told 106.7 The Fan (transcription via Chris Lingebach of CBS DC). “If you still need five more games, or five-plus, to make a decision, so be it, but I’d like to think that I’ve played a lot of football here. I’ve been here six years and I think the people in the building have gotten to know me, who I am as a man, who I am as a football player, what I’m about and who I’m gonna be going forward and I’d like to think they can make an informed decision regardless. But if they need five more games, so be it, but I understand the need to find value and understand what you’re getting.”
At 5-6, the Redskins have just a 6.7% chance of reaching the postseason, per Football Outsiders, but there is still plenty riding on these final games.
Here’s more from the NFC East:
- Recently, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones indicated that he was backing down from his lawsuit threat against the NFL because the league promised to “get input from all the owners” on Roger Goodell‘s new deal, rather than leaving it up to just the Compensation Committee. No such deal has been made, however, according to NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart. Lockhart reiterated that the six-man committee has the sole power to approve an extension for the commissioner (link via PFT).
- Redskins coach Jay Gruden says defensive lineman Jonathan Allen remains on course for returning from injured reserve this season (link via ESPN.com’s John Keim). Allen, who has missed the bulk of the season with a Lisfranc injury, can be activated off IR for the Week 15 game against the Cardinals.
- Eagles defensive Brandon Graham registered his seventh sack of the season on Sunday and that triggered a $250K incentive in his 2017 contract, as Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. By hitting that milestone, he also boosted his 2018 salary by $250K.
- On Tuesday, the Giants announced that Eli Manning will be benched this week in favor of Geno Smith.
Raiders To Bring Antonio Hamilton Off IR
The Raiders have designated cornerback Antonio Hamilton to return from injured reserve, as Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. The move will trigger a three-week window for Hamilton to return to the 53-man roster. If he is not activated within that timeframe, he will not be eligible to play for the remainder of the season. 
The move officially means that will will not see kicker Sebastian Janikowski or offensive lineman Denver Kirkland take the field again in 2017. Each team has only two IR-DTR spots to use and one has already been burned to activate safety Obi Melifonwu.
Hamilton underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus back in October. Before that, the second-year player appeared in four games, primarily as a special-teamer. Last year, he made ten appearances. Per league rules, Hamilton will be eligible to play against the Cowboys on Dec. 17.
Texans Cut LB Lamarr Houston
Lamarr Houston‘s time in Houston has come to an end. The linebacker has been waived, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The release isn’t necessarily a reflection on his performance – Rapoport hears the Texans are shifting focus to younger players. 
Houston joined the Texans on a one-year deal in October. At the time, the Texans were still in the mix for the AFC South crown. Today, they’re 4-7 with no real chance at reaching the playoffs. By cutting Houston, the Texans will get a chance to evaluate edge rushers who could be a part of the solution in 2018. Meanwhile, Houston may get a chance to hook on with a contending club.
Although Houston is a vested veteran, he’ll be subject to waivers since we are beyond the trading deadline. If no one claims Houston within a 24 hour period, he’ll be free to sign with any team of his choosing.