Browns DE Emmanuel Ogbah Out For Year
Browns defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah suffered a broken foot in today’s loss to the Jaguars, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Ogbah will miss the remainder of the season with the injury, reports Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
With their winless record still intact, the Browns clearly aren’t heading to the postseason, so Ogbah’s injury won’t have playoff implications. But it will deprive Cleveland of a young, successful defender who has only improved since entering the league as a second-round pick out of Oklahoma State in 2016.
Ogbah, 24, had been playing on roughly three-quarters of the Browns’ defensive snaps this season, and had graded as the NFL’s No. 66 edge defender among 110 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus. His 73.3 overall grade was a major step up on his 2016 mark of 47.8, and Ogbah had been excellent against the run through 11 weeks.
Other members of Cleveland’s defensive line — which ranks an impressive second in adjusted line yards — will be forced to step up given Ogbah’s absence. Nate Orchard and Carl Nassib could be asked to play more snaps at defensive end opposite No. 1 overall pick Myles Garrett.
Texans Fear D’Onta Foreman Tore Achilles
Fresh off the best game of his career, Texans rookie running back D’Onta Foreman is expected to miss the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
A third-round pick out of Texas earlier this year, Foreman had served as the backup to Lamar Miller, and had posted 68 rushes heading into Week 11. Today’s contest against the Cardinals was the top performance of Foreman’s short NFL tenure, as he handled 10 carries for 65 yards and scored two touchdowns, including one that proved decisive in Sunday’s victory.
Houston, of course, is no stranger to injury luck this season, as the club had already lost superstar rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson to a torn ACL. Wideout Will Fuller missed today’s game with a rib injury, while the Texans are also playing without stalwart left tackle Duane Brown, whom the team dealt to Seattle earlier this month. Without that talent present, Houston has only a nine percent chance to earn a postseason berth even after winning today, per FiveThirtyEight.
The Texans don’t necessarily need to add another running back to their roster, as the club boasts Alfred Blue and Jordan Todman in addition to Miller. Still, a free agent addition isn’t out of the question, and options such as Ryan Mathews, Shaun Draughn, DeAngelo Williams, or Stevan Ridley could make sense.
Redskins’ Chris Thompson Done For Season
Redskins running back Chris Thompson suffered a fractured fibula and will miss the remainder of the 2017 campaign, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Thompson, 27, had been in the midst of a breakout campaign in his fifth NFL season. Heading into Week 11, Thompson had posted 771 yards from scrimmage, a total that had already topped his previous career high. He’d averaged 4.6 yards per carry on the ground, but was even more effective in the passing game, where’d he posted 38 receptions for 494 yards. All told, Thompson had managed five total touchdowns.
A former fifth-round pick, Thompson agreed to a contract extension earlier this year. The new pact will keep Thompson in Washington through the 2019 season, and will pay him $7MM+ over the next two years. Next season, Thompson will earn nearly $2MM in base salary and count for roughly $3.25MM on the Redskins’ cap.
Thompson will become the second Redskins’ running back to be placed on injured reserve in recent weeks, joining former starter Rob Kelley. Head coach Jay Gruden & Co. will now continue to lean on fourth-round rookie Samaje Perine, who handled 23 carries in today’s loss to the Saints. Byron Marshall, signed off the Eagles’ practice squad last week, will also contribute, while Washington could also promote rookie LeShun Daniels from its practice squad.
North Notes: Browns, Packers, Lions, Ravens
If Hue Jackson returns as the Browns head coach in 2018, he’s likely to want more input on the club’s personnel moves, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. That’s not to say Jackson requires final say on Cleveland’s transactions, as he agreed to the current decision-making hierarchy when he accepted the Browns job. However, Jackson would “want his voice heard” alongside that of front office members Sashi Brown, Paul DePodesta, and Andrew Berry, per Rapoport. Reports of strife between the Browns’ front office and their coaching staff have been prevalent, especially relating to the club’s ongoing search for a quarterback, so Jackson would likely attempt to assert himself if continues as Cleveland’s coach next season.
Here’s more from the NFL’s two North divisions:
- The Packers placed offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga on injured reserve Saturday, and now Green Bay will face a complicated decision on the veteran lineman’s future this offeason, as Ryan Wood of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. While Bulaga has been an effective right tackle when healthy, he missed five games with injury in 2015 and now has two torn ACLs (one on each knee) on his record. Bulaga will be 29 years old when the 2018 season begins, and is due a $5.85MM base salary next year. If Green Bay did decide to cut ties, it would save $5.15MM on its salary cap.
- Like Bulaga, defensive end Ezekiel Ansah has dealt with injury issues this season, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be a member of the Lions in 2018, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Ansah, 28, is absent for the second straight game today as he deals with a back injury, and his decreased production will likely lead to a depressed market when he hits the free market next spring. Though an extension seemed like a formality earlier this year, a long-term deal for Ansah now seems out of the question, while the franchise tag — at a cost north of $18MM — isn’t an option, either. A one-year pillow contract in the range of $10MM could make sense for both Ansah and the Lions, as Birkett notes.
- The Ravens have demoted former first-round receiver Breshad Perriman (and made him a healthy scratch for Week 11), tweets Rapoport. Perriman has managed only seven receptions in 2017, his third NFL season, and ranks among the league’s worst wideouts through 10-plus weeks, per Football Outsiders. However, Perriman’s reduced role may only last a single week, as Baltimore wants to see how the 24-year-old pass-catcher responds, per Rapoport.
Saints Extend Assistant GM Jeff Ireland
The Saints have reached a contract extension with assistant general manager/director of college scouting Jeff Ireland, sources tell Nick Underhill of the Advocate.
Ireland, who has worked in NFL personnel offices since 1994, previously served as the Dolphins’ general manager from 2008-13. New Orleans hired him in January 2015, and Ireland began fully contributing to the club’s draft preparations in 2016, per Underhill. The Saints have nailed a number of draft picks over the past two years, adding talented player such as Michael Thomas, Vonn Bell, Marshon Lattimore, Ryan Ramczyk, and Alvin Kamara since 2016.
Ireland’s previous contract was set to expire after the 2017 campaign, per Underhill. While his new deal won’t prevent other NFL teams from contacting Ireland about general manager vacancies, it will ensure that he remains with the Saints if a GM offer doesn’t come.
Greg Olsen To Return To Practice
Panthers TE Greg Olsen, who has been on injured reserve since suffering a broken foot in Week 2, will return to practice tomorrow, as Olsen himself said during the FOX pregame show today (link via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). Olsen, who is serving as a FOX analyst for today’s Rams-Vikings contest, indicated he would be on the field tomorrow and hopes to play against the Jets next week.
His return would be a boon for a team that traded away No. 1 wideout Kelvin Benjamin at the trade deadline and recently lost rookie Curtis Samuel for the season. Carolina is very much in the thick of things in the NFC South, sitting at 7-3 and just a half game behind the division-leading Saints, and Olsen could help the club at least secure a playoff berth. Quarterback Cam Newton and Olsen have had a great rapport during their time together in Carolina, with both players now among the league’s best at their respective positions.
Ed Dickson has served as the Panthers’ top tight end in Olsen’s absence, but outside of one monster game against Detroit, he has not been able to replicate Olsen’s production. Last year, Olsen had 80 catches for 1,072 yards and three touchdowns, which was his third consecutive season with 1,000 yards or more (and his fifth straight season with over 100 targets).
Between Olsen, Devin Funchess, and Christian McCaffrey, the Panthers should be able to cobble together enough of a passing game to stay in the playoff hunt.
NFC Notes: Clayborn, 49ers, Lions
Falcons defensive lineman Adrian Clayborn was prepared to hang up the cleats last offseason, as D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Clayborn suffered a torn biceps in Atlanta’s playoff win over the Seahawks in January, which marked the third time that he had endured a season-ending injury, and he was ready to retire rather than risk more pain and frustration. However, his fiancee (now wife) convinced him to give it another shot, and Atlanta is reaping the benefits. In addition to his otherworldly (and perhaps cathartic) six-sack performance against Dallas last week, Clayborn has rated as the 10th-best edge defender in the league (out of 110 qualifiers) per Pro Football Focus. He will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, and he could be on the verge of a very nice payday.
Now for more from the NFC:
- 2017 was always going to be a rebuilding year for the 49ers, and Cam Inman of the Mercury News offers his thoughts as to each current player’s future with the club. He suggests, for instance, that the team may prefer to let oft-injured Jimmie Ward test a soft free agent market but may want to re-sign fellow free agent-t0-be Daniel Kilgore.
- Kyle Meinke of MLive.com says he would not be surprised if the Lions simply cut Eric Ebron this offseason. While Ebron is due an $8MM salary under the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, that salary is guaranteed for injury only, so Detroit could move on from him with no penalty (assuming, of course, he does not get hurt in the meantime). Theoretically, the two sides could attempt to work out some alternate arrangement — after all, Ebron would not get close to $8MM on the open market — but given that Ebron seemed anxious for a fresh start when his name was bandied about at the trade deadline, it sounds as if Ebron may be playing his last games as Lion.
- In the same piece, Meinke says it is hard to imagine Lions head coach Jim Caldwell getting the axe after the season, even if the team fails to qualify for the playoffs. However, Meinke predicts that Detroit will let impending free agent center Travis Swanson, who has performed poorly this season, hit the open market while sliding Graham Glasgow from guard to center.
- Ty Montgomery‘s re-aggravated rib injury is more painful than the original injury that he suffered earlier in the year, as ESPN’s Josina Anderson tweets. Anderson said the Packers running back, who will miss today’s contest against the Ravens, will try to practice later this week with the hopes of suiting up for Green Bay’s Week 12 game against Pittsburgh, but it does not sound particularly promising right now.
- Mike Pettine, who is currently serving as a consultant with the Seahawks, would be one of Matt Nagy‘s top choices for defensive coordinator if Nagy lands a head coaching job this offseason, as Michael Lombardi of The Ringer tweets. Pettine served as the Browns’ head coach from 2014-15, and he was previously a defensive coordinator for the Jets and Bills. Nagy currently works as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator and is expected to be one of the hottest head coaching candidates in 2018.
La Canfora’s Latest: Bills, P. Manning, Giants, Goodell
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor is likely to be an attractive trade chip this offseason due to his relative youth, upside, and athleticism (not to mention his reasonable salary). Taylor is due a $6MM roster bonus in the first week of free agency this March, and even when he inked his current deal, it was speculated that Buffalo could cut Taylor before having to pay out that bonus. So while teams theoretically could wait for the Bills to release Taylor — they did just bench him, after all — La Canfora’s sources indicate that the ability to land him at a reasonable contract and secure his rights for at least 2018 would lead to someone giving Buffalo something of reasonable value.
Indeed, aside from the $6MM roster bonus, Taylor is owed a fairly modest $10MM base salary, and it’s not as if the free agent QB market is likely to set the world on fire. Plus, there will be plenty of teams who are unable to address their QB needs in the draft. La Canfora names the Jaguars, Broncos, Cardinals, and Saints as potential landing spots for Taylor, and he says the Bills will be doing their own homework on the 2018 quarterback draft class. He also says the Bills could continue to look to trade Cordy Glenn this offseason.
Now for more from La Canfora, who has again treated us to a bevy of Sunday morning notes:
- Taylor might draw plenty of trade interest this offseason, but La Canfora writes that the Bills had been weighing the decision to start Nathan Peterman over Taylor for weeks, and the team’s slow starts and inability to throw the ball downfield ultimately forced the change.
- We have heard plenty of speculation about the Browns‘ desire to bring future Hall-of-Famer Peyton Manning on board in some sort of high-level capacity, and La Canfora writes that club owner Jimmy Haslam is serious about recruiting Manning and could be willing to offer him a small stake in the team as incentive to take on a team president/top executive role.
- Although Giants ownership recently indicated that head coach Ben McAdoo would at least get the opportunity to finish out the season before they make a decision on his future with the club, La Canfora says the club’s evaluation will not be limited to the coaching staff. He believes ownership could also make changes to the personnel side of team operations, suggesting that GM Jerry Reese could be on the hot seat.
- La Canfora says that Roger Goodell never demanded $50MM per year and use of a private jet for life as part of his contract extension, as was reported last week. Instead, the structure that Goodell agreed to weeks ago will pay him a base salary of $20MM per year, with a chance to hit $200MM over five years if all incentives are met (Goodell had been earning about $40MM per year under his present contract). His new deal is still awaiting a formal signing/announcement.
Ronald Darby Issues Statement On Jameis Winston
The Uber driver who has accused Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston of groping her in March 2016 has said that she and Winston were alone in her vehicle at the time of the alleged incident, whereas Winston’s representatives say there were several people in the car, and that Winston was in the backseat. Now, Eagles cornerback (and Winston’s former collegiate teammate) Ronald Darby has spoken out on Winston’s behalf, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports.
Darby, whom the Eagles acquired in a trade with Buffalo this offseason — but who has only suited up for one game this season due to an ankle injury — issued a statement this morning indicating that he was one of the other passengers in the vehicle. He said:
“I felt the need to come forward and clarify some inaccurate accounts of the evening of March 13, 2016 when myself, a friend and Jameis Winston took an Uber ride in Arizona. There were three of us in the car, not just one as has been reported. Myself and Jameis were in the backseat. I am confident that nothing inappropriate in nature happened in the car that evening and Jameis did not have any physical contact with the Uber driver. The accusations are just not true.”
Darby and Winston were teammates at Florida State in 2013 and 2014, and both were selected in the 2015 draft (Winston, of course, was the first overall pick in that draft, while Darby was taken with the 50th overall selection). And, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk observes, this marks the second time that Darby has witnessed an incident that resulted in Winston’s being accused of sexual misconduct. Darby was in Winston’s apartment the night Winston was accused of sexually assaulting a fellow FSU student in 2012.
Schefter also reports that the NFL has still not informed the NFL Players Association that there is now an investigation of one of its players, which the league is required to do. While everyone knows that the investigation has been launched, and the league’s informing the NFLPA of the same is largely just a formality, the fact that it has not been done is an inauspicious start to what many expect will be another messy, drawn-out process.
Extra Points: Freeman, Broncos, Mack, Eifert
The Broncos have authored one of their worst modern-era stretches over the past five weeks, with now both their offense and defense struggling. John Elway lobbed some criticism at the team he put together.
“I think we got a little bit soft. To be dead honest with you, we got a little bit soft,” the Broncos GM said, via Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. “We went 4-0 in preseason; we started out 3-1; we get a bye week, and if you exhale in this league, you’re in trouble. To be dead honest with you, I think we exhaled and it’s hard to recover from that.”
However, the seventh-year front office leader offered support for Vance Joseph despite the first-year coach having the Broncos in danger of their first sub-.500 season in seven years. The Broncos’ schedule eases up after the Chiefs-Eagles-Patriots gauntlet, with the Bengals making a trip to Denver in on Sunday, but Joseph may profile as a one-and-done candidate if this pace continues. The Broncos have lost all five games by at least 10 points. Elway threw some cold water on that prospect, though.
“There’s going to be growing pains as a head coach, especially as a first-year head coach (and) we got a lot of youth on staff when it comes to coordinators, too,” Elway said. “So there’s growing pains there. Just like with players, we have to give them a chance to grow and get better and learn from certain situations. Vance, in my mind, is doing just fine and continues to get these guys to play hard and the energy is still there. So we’ll work our way through.”
Here’s the latest from around the league going into Week 11 Sunday.
- Devonta Freeman has been ruled out for Monday night’s Falcons-Seahawks game. This wasn’t a surprise given the star running back’s concussion history. He suffered a second concussion of the season against the Cowboys. Tevin Coleman will start.
- Reggie McKenzie wants to sign Khalil Mack to an extension next year, and the cornerstone Raiders defender has no problem with that. Mack does not seem interested in exploring a potential path elsewhere down the line. “Of course; that’s not even a question,” Mack said, via NBC Sports Bay Area’s Fallon Smith, about wanting to stay with the Raiders for the rest of his career. “That’s a no-brainer for me, especially when you think about coming into this organization and try to build something special, that’s something you want to be a part of for a lifetime.” Given his age (26), durability, production history and the fact Von Miller‘s extension occurred during the 2016 league year, Mack is a mortal lock to become a $20MM-per-year defender and surpass his fellow AFC West pass-rushing dynamo in that department. Mack’s under contract through 2018 via fifth-year option.
- In addition to the back surgery Tyler Eifert underwent, the impending UFA tight end had a knee procedure done recently, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). This was not a major operation, with Graziano noting it was for a cyst that had developed on the Bengals pass-catcher’s knee. Eifert is out for the season and will profile as one of the more interesting UFAs due to his injury history and high-ceiling production when healthy.
- The Jaguars will be without two starting offensive linemen on Sunday in Cleveland. Both Jermey Parnell and Patrick Omameh are out and didn’t travel with the team to northeast Ohio. This will be Parnell’s second straight absence due to a knee injury. A quadriceps injury will sideline Omameh, who’s worked as Jacksonville’s starting left guard throughout the season. The Jags have 10 offensive linemen on their active roster, so they’re prepared to handle the first-unit cogs’ absences.