HEADLINES

Month: June 2018

DT Roy Miller Suspended 6 Games

June 15th, 2018 at 4:34pm CST by Sam Robinson

Roy Miller‘s chances of catching on with a team for what would be a 10th NFL season took a hit Friday afternoon.

The NFL suspended the free agent defensive tackle for six games, Field Yates of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).

Miller signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs last year and played in seven games. However, the team released the veteran lineman after he was arrested on a domestic battery charge. It’s likely that triggered this ban.

Primarily known for his work with the Jaguars and Buccaneers, Miller has started 84 games. The Chiefs used the 30-year-old defender as a backup. He had not received any traction on the free agent market prior to this news.

Minor NFL Transactions: 6/15/18

June 15th, 2018 at 3:47pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Cowboys’ David Irving Suspended By NFL

June 15th, 2018 at 2:43pm CST by Zachary Links

Cowboys defensive lineman David Irving is being suspended four games for violating the NFL’s policy on substances of abuse, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 

Unfortunately, this isn’t Irving’s first time running afoul of league rules. Last June, he was hit with a four game suspension for a PED violation.

Irving will miss the team’s first four games of the year against the Panthers, Giants, Seahawks, and Lions. He’ll be eligible to return for the club’s Week 5 contest against the Texans.

The Cowboys could be at a serious disadvantage to start the year between Irving’s four-game ban and the foot injury plaguing defensive tackle Maliek Collins. The Cowboys did not draft a defensive tackle this year, so they’ll use some combination of Brian Price, Richard Ash, Jihad Ward, and Datone Jones to fill the void.

The suspension may affect Irving’s bank account on multiple levels. For starters, he’ll lose out on four game checks from his a one-year, $2.9MM restricted tender. The four-game suspension – his second in two years – may also hurt his stock as he approaches unrestricted free agency.

Irving emerged as a playmaker in limited action in 2016 by logging four sacks and four forced fumbles. His 2017 season was cut short due to a concussion and a four-game suspension at the season’s outset, but he still managed seven sacks in eight games. That was good for the second-highest total on the team, trailing only Demarcus Lawrence.

On paper, the Cowboys boast one of the better defensive line units in the NFL, but suspensions and injuries have put everything in flux. The Cowboys are still waiting to hear about the status of former second-round pick Randy Gregory, who formally applied for reinstatement earlier this month.

Raiders Sign Rookie Arden Key

June 15th, 2018 at 2:05pm CST by Zachary Links

Arden Key is officially under contract with the Raiders. On Friday, Oakland announced the signing of the third-round defensive end.

Heading into draft season, Key was widely projected as a first-round pick. However, his rocky 2017 season at LSU damaged his stock. In his final year on campus, Key spent time in rehab, injured his shoulder, and porked up from 235 lbs to 270.

However, given his 2016 performance – 12.5 tackles for loss and eleven sacks – the Raiders believe they have a draft steal on their hands. The athletic youngster will serve as a reserve behind Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin in his first year, joining Mario Edwards, Tank Carradine, and possibly Frostee Rucker as bench DEs.

With Key under contract, the Raiders have now signed every player in their 2018 draft class. Here’s the complete rundown, via PFR’s tracker:

Following Specific NFL Players On PFR

June 15th, 2018 at 1:45pm CST by Zachary Links

As we’ve outlined before, there are a number of different ways to follow Pro Football Rumors via Facebook, Twitter, and RSS. If you don’t want to follow all the site’s updates, you can subscribe to team-specific or transaction-only Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds. Although we don’t have Facebook pages or Twitter feeds for specific players, it’s easy to follow all our updates on your favorite player as well.

If, for instance, you want to keep track of all the latest news and rumors on Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell as his extension deadline nears, you can visit this page. If you’re interested in keeping tabs on the latest rumors involving Julio Jones, who is pushing for a new deal of his own in Atlanta, you can find his page right here.

In addition to dedicating pages to players, we also maintain archives for certain specific non-NFL topics. For example, all our posts relating to the XFL can be found here, while our updates on the Alliance of American Football (AAF) are here.

Every player we’ve written about has his own rumors page, and each of those players also has his own RSS feed, making it even easier to follow the latest updates. Links to RSS feeds for specific players are all located on this page. You can also find links to RSS feeds for various miscellaneous categories there. For instance, if you only want to receive one update every Sunday recapping the week’s notable headlines, you can subscribe to our Week in Review RSS feed, right here.

NFL Suspends Browns’ Donald Stephenson

June 15th, 2018 at 1:12pm CST by Zachary Links

Browns offensive tackle Donald Stephenson has been suspended by the NFL. He’ll miss the first two games of the season after violating the league’s substance abuse policy. 

Stephenson skipped the Browns’ mandatory minicamp this week, which resulted in an 80K+ fine. The suspension will be even more costly as he’ll lose out on a pair of game checks.

In the interim, Stephenson will be eligible to participate in all offseason and preseason practices and games. He’ll be able to rejoin the team on Monday, September 17 after the Browns’ season opener against the Jets and their Week 2 contest against the Saints. His first game back should come on Sept. 20 when the Browns face the Jets in Cleveland.

Stephenson, 30 in September, saw his 2017 season with the Broncos cut short due to a torn calf muscle. He appeared in seven games with four starts before being shut down for the year. Stephenson’s 303 snaps were not enough to qualify for Pro Football Focus’ rankings, but in a larger sample, he would have graded out as the 12th-worst tackle in the league.

After signing a one-year, $2.5MM deal with Denver, Stephenson was slated to start the year as the first tackle off of the bench behind starters Shon Coleman and Chris Hubbard. He’s likely still in line for that role, though he’ll have to wait until Week 3 to see live action. For the first two weeks of the year, the Browns may lean more heavily on reserves Spencer Drango and Roderick Johnson for support.

NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants

June 15th, 2018 at 11:09am CST by Zachary Links

Many are fretting about the Cowboys‘ lack of a true No. 1 wide receiver, but newcomer Allen Hurns is not among them.

“As far as this locker, to ourselves or in the meeting rooms, we don’t talk about that at all,” said Hurns (via Charean Williams of PFT). “The main thing for us is we come in and compete and try to earn our job. I feel like we’ve got a lot of guys who’ve got to come in and prove ourselves regardless. It’s motivation, but that’s not our main motivation. Our main motivation is to come in and be great. Me, I’m not coming off my best year. That’s the same with Beas. He didn’t have his best year last year. Same with TWill [Terrance Williams] and Tavon [Austin]. The list goes on. We’re not coming off our best year. Being young guys coming into the league, you’ve got something to prove. That’s not our main motivation, but it does add fuel to the fire.”

Hurns is the Cowboys’ only receiver with a 1,000-yard campaign to his credit, and that was back in 2015. Many see that as cause for concern, but then again, quarterback Dak Prescott has been known to move the ball around in his offense.

Here’s more from the NFC East:

  • Giants head coach Pat Shurmur said he expects all his players to be at training camp. He added that there is ‘no reason to believe’ Odell Beckham won’t be able to do everything at practice (Twitter link via Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com). For now, Beckham seems on course to attend training camp even as he pressures the team for a monster multi-year extension.
  • The Cowboys worked out defensive end Jimmy Bean this week, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Bean was on the Raiders’ practice squad in 2016 and recovering from an injury last year. This marked the second time Dallas has worked him out, though he has been reached just yet.
  • This week, the Redskins wrapped up their draft class by signing third-round tackle Geron Christian.

Falcons, Julio Jones Discussing New Deal

June 15th, 2018 at 10:49am CST by Zachary Links

Julio Jones has been staying away from the Falcons as he pushes for a new deal, but coach Dan Quinn is confident that a resolution is on the horizon. This week, Quinn hinted at dialogue between the two sides regarding a revised contract. 

“The good news is that there are conversations that have begun,” Quinn said (via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). “We’ll keep those private. I have a lot of faith in the organization and also in Julio that things will get resolved with good communications. I’m sure that’ll be a part of it as well.”

Jones skipped the team’s voluntary offseason program as well as the club’s mandatory minicamp this week. By skipping the minicamp, Jones will be subject to roughly $85K in fines.

There were contract talks between the two sides before minicamp, but that round of discussions didn’t go well. Reportedly, a contract proposal was sent by Jones’ team to Atlanta brass and the “response was not satisfactory” to Jones’ camp.

Jones is under contract through the 2020 season, but his deal is now below market value thanks to the advancement of the wide receiver market. His six-year deal worth an average of $13.5MM per year seemed substantial at the time of signing in 2015, but it pales in comparison to deals for other top WRs in 2018. Seven receivers now outpace Jones in terms of average annual value: Antonio Brown, Mike Evans, DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins, Jarvis Landry, A.J. Green, and Davante Adams.

Meanwhile, the Falcons have several other players angling for extensions, with Ricardo Allen, Grady Jarrett, and Jake Matthews all also wanting new deals. They recently committed a massive amount of money to Matt Ryan‘s mega-extension, so it may prove tricky to give new deals to every key player seeking one.

Suspension Coming For Martavis Bryant?

June 15th, 2018 at 10:22am CST by Zachary Links

The Raiders are concerned that wide receiver Martavis Bryant will be subject to league discipline, sources tell Michael Gehlken of the Review Journal. The belief is that Bryant has run afoul of the league’s substance abuse policy once again, which would put his 2018 season in jeopardy. 

Bryant, 26, missed the entire 2016 season after repeated policy violations. It’s not exactly clear what the issue is this time around, but a failed test or a failure to attend a scheduled exam could result in a lengthy ban for Bryant given his history.

On Day 1 of the draft, the Raiders shipped the No. 10 overall pick to the Cardinals for the No. 15 selection, plus a third-round pick and a fifth-round choice. After selecting UCLA tackle Kolton Miller at No. 15, they traded that newly acquired third-round selection to the Steelers for Bryant.

Bryant’s talent is undeniable, but his off-the-field issues made it a risky move. The Raiders are now bracing themselves for the possibility of not having Bryant in what should have been a highly-motivated year for him. The wide receiver is entering the final year of his rookie deal and is slated to hit free agency after the 2018 season. Instead of balling out, Bryant might have to sit out.

After joining the Raiders, Bryant insisted that he was turning over a new leaf.

“Just by handling my business as a man,” Bryant said when asked in April about how he’ll stay on course. “It’s not my first rodeo. I’ve had my difficulties in my past, but I’ve come a long way from that. It’s all about keeping the right resources around me and continuing to stay on the right path. I’m going to make sure I get that done.”

Draft Pick Signings: 6/14/18

June 14th, 2018 at 9:31pm CST by Ben Levine

Here are today’s minor draft pick signings:

  • The Chiefs have signed third-round defensive lineman Derrick Nnadi. The Florida State product was one of the ACC’s standout defensive tackles in 2016 and 2017, averaging 51 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, and one forced fumble. The 6-foot-1, 317-pound rookie will compete with Justin Hamilton and Stefan Charles for the chance to backup free agent addition Xavier Williams.
  • The Texans have signed third-round offensive tackle Martinas Rankin, completing their draft class. The Mississippi State product had a breakout campaign in 2017, earning the Kent Hull Trophy (awarded to the best college offensive lineman in Mississippi) and first team All-ACC honors. With Julie’n Davenport and Seantrel Henderson penciled in as the Texans’ starting offensive tackles, Rankin will have to compete with Jeff Allen, Kendall Lamm, and David Quessenberry for playing time.
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