Bears’ Zach Miller Still Hopes To Play
This week, the Bears did right by Zach Miller. Chicago re-signed the tight end to a “split contract” on Monday and placed him on the PUP list on Tuesday, giving him $458K for the year even though he will not be able to play. Taking the field will not be in the cards this year, but Miller says he still hopes to return to football down the road. 
“With my doctors and everyone I spoke to, we’re not going to put any set limitations on this,” Miller said (via ESPN.com’s Jeff Dickerson). “We’re just going to take it as it goes. There has not been a definitive, ‘you can never do this again.’ That hasn’t been talked about. It’s to approach this as you are planning to get back to where I can be myself and play football and then when that time comes, some of that is out of my hands. So, I’m just going to do as much as I can to get that point and see what happens.”
Recently, Miller was seen walking around the Bears’ facility with a limp. That indicates that he’s a long way from getting back to football, but it’s a tremendous sign overall after he had to endure nine surgeries. Slowly but surely, Miller says the rehab process is paying off.
“I’m feeling good,” Miller said. “Knee’s getting stronger, really daily. Putting a lot of work in here just continuing to work on strengthening that area, everything around it. That’s kind of the big thing about this is it allows me to have that opportunity to continue to do that. So I feel good and continue to just get stronger, get healthier. Time will tell. Just put everything into it that I can and see where that takes me.”
In the meantime, Miller will continue to sit on team meetings and mentor the club’s tight ends. Although he misses being on the gridiron, the tight end says that he is “in a good place right now.”
East Notes: Eagles, Wentz, Pats, Gronk
Good news for Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz. Based on what he is hearing, ESPN.com’s Chris Mortensen (Twitter link) believes that Wentz will be ready for the team’s season opener.
All offseason long, the Eagles have been hoping that Wentz would be ready for Week 1. Of course, after his late-season ACL and LCL tears, the team is taking a cautious approach to his recovery. So far, Wentz has looked sharp in OTAs, so he should be ready to retake his spot as the team’s starting QB in September.
Here’s more from the East divisions:
- There was a great deal of retirement talk surrounding Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski this offseason, but that’s all in the rear view mirror now. “I had to see where my body was at and where my mind was at. But now I’m out here, and I feel good,” Gronk said (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Jeff Darlington). “I feel like I definitely made the right decision coming back out. Mind and body. That’s what it has always been about. Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. On Tuesday, Gronk and Tom Brady both reported to the Patriots for OTAs.
- Jets tight end Chris Herndon, who was arrested Saturday, was on the practice field on Tuesday (Twitter link via Brian Costello of the New York Post). It remains to be seen whether he’ll face league discipline or whether the DUI charge will impact his status with the team.
- The Giants announced that GM Dave Gettleman is set to undergo treatment for lymphoma. “Recently, I underwent an annual physical, during which it was discovered I have lymphoma. Over the past week, I have undergone more testing to determine the course of treatment, which is scheduled to start in the very near future,” Gettleman said in a statement. “The doctor’s outlook for the treatment and the prognosis is positive, and so am I. I will continue to work as much as the treatment process will allow, and as they know, when I am not in the office, I will be in constant communication with Pat (Shurmur), Kevin (Abrams) and the rest of our staff.”
J.J. Wilcox Cancels 49ers Deal, Will Join Jets
J.J. Wilcox had a change of heart. After agreeing to a one-year deal with the 49ers on Tuesday morning, Wilcox has agreed in principle to a deal with the Jets, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). 
Apparently, Wilcox decided that he wants to play for Jets head coach Todd Bowles. One source tells Schefter that the safety got “stage fright” after verbally agreeing to sign with San Francisco.
Wilcox, 27, was initially set to spend the 2017 season with the Buccaneers, but they shipped him to the Steelers after signing T.J. Ward in September. He played in 12 games with Pittsburgh, but he ultimately was unable to carve out a role in the secondary or on special teams. By the end of the year, he wound up as a healthy scratch due to his tendency to commit penalties while on special teams. All in all, he finished out with 12 tackles in 12 games.
Wilcox may have an easier path to the 53-man roster in New York than he would have had with the Niners. The Jets will start Jamal Adams at free safety with fellow rising sophomore Marcus Maye at strong safety, but after that things are fairly wide open with Terrence Brooks and Doug Middleton among those looking to lock down reserve jobs.
However, penalties and minor mistakes hurt the Jets last season, including a close loss against the Panthers in November. After the defeat, the Bowles stressed the importance of playing smarter. In keeping with that theme, Wilcox will have to reign in his playing style in order to avoid more yellow flags.
“There were about two or three plays where we had gone over things countless times that we should have known better, certain guys should have known better,” Bowles said (via USA Today). “And that’s a lack of concentration from a discipline standpoint and that has to get better.”
Giants Sign P Taylor Symmank
The Giants have signed punter Taylor Symmank, according to a tweet from his agent. Symmank will compete with Riley Dixon for the team’s punting job in 2018. 
Symmank spent the 2017 preseason with the Vikings and he apparently has a fan in former Minnesota offensive coordinator and new Giants head coach Pat Shurmur. In that preseason, the 25-year-old averaged 42.9 yards per punt on nine attempts with one punt traveling 60 yards. Five of those punts were downed inside the 20. The Texas Tech product lost that competition to Ryan Quigley and he has yet to appear in a regular season game.
The Giants acquired Dixon via trade with the Broncos back in April for a conditional 2019 seventh-round pick. Dixon is still probably the favorite to take over for the job previously held by Brad Wing, but he’ll have to earn it this summer.
Tom Brady, Gronk Report To Patriots
As expected, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski were on hand for the Patriots’ Tuesday morning practices. The two stars previously stayed away from voluntary offseason team activities, but it appears that all parties are now on the same page. 
It is widely believed that Gronkowski was abstaining from OTAs in order to push the Patriots for a new contract. No new deal has been reached yet, but that’s likely forthcoming. Gronk, who is signed through the 2019 campaign, is scheduled to earn a base salary of $8MM in 2018, but New England has been working on “tweaking” his deal. The Patriots are expected to add some sort of incentive package to Gronkowski’s pact, as they did last year.
The circumstances behind Brady’s absence are not quite as clear. It has been speculated that the quarterback is angling for a new deal and/or is at odds with head coach coach Bill Belichick. Brady has not confirmed such talk and owner Robert Kraft did his best to sweep those rumors under the rug. Belichick, predictably, has been mum on the subject.
Last year, Brady led the NFL in passing yards en route to his third MVP trophy. While the rumors of discord will continue to swirl in New England, Brady will look to capture his sixth Super Bowl trophy this season.
Browns Release LB Tank Carder
The Browns announced the release of linebacker Tank Carder. Carder was released in order to make room for new addition Mychal Kendricks. 
Carder missed the entire 2017 campaign after suffering a torn ACL, but the Browns re-signed him this offseason to a low-cost one-year deal to see what he could do after his recovery. The deal likely had little or no guarantees, so the release should have little impact on the Browns’ tremendous amount of cap room.
Carder, 29, is really a linebacker in name only and has rarely played on the defensive side of the ball. However, he was a key cog on Cleveland’s special teams unit when he was on the field. In each of his healthy Browns seasons, he saw at least 60% ST playtime. The former fifth-round pick, was with Cleveland from the 2012 through 2017 seasons and was voted a team captain in 2016.
Bears Place Zach Miller On PUP List
The Bears have placed tight end Zach Miller on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, according to a team announcement. This was the expected course of action given the gruesome leg injury he suffered in 2017. 
This week, the Bears re-signed Miller to a one-year deal in order to give him additional financial security. Miller was out of contract and did not qualify for injury pay, but the new deal will pay him $458K even though he cannot play.
In the long run, Miller has said that he would like to return to football. However, doctors raised the possibility of an amputation just last year, so Miller knows that may not be possible. The good news is that Miller’s leg is safe after nine surgeries to correct the knee dislocation.
“[If it doesn’t happen], then that’s just the way it goes and we’ve got to move on and do something else,” Miller said back in February. “Physically I’ve been through a number of surgeries or whatever it may be. I can recover from that. But the mental aspect is something you’ve got to learn how to work it, how to block out some stuff and really just stay positive, which I’ve done a pretty good job doing.”
This Date In Transactions History: Joe Staley
On this date in 2009, the 49ers signed Joe Staley to a sizable extension, despite the fact that he was only two seasons into his NFL career. The six-year, $42MM attachment raised some eyebrows around the league, but then-GM Scot McCloughan had no doubt that it would benefit the team. 
“Joe Staley is the type of player we want to continue to add to this football team,” McCloughan said. “He’s a tough, versatile, no-nonsense type of guy who wants to do whatever it takes to help his team win football games. Joe is a consummate team player and has been completely unselfish in the way he has approached his role on this team. We know what he means to the success of the 49ers and getting this extension done puts us in a very nice position for the future.”
In the first two years of his career, Staley carried cap numbers of $1.02MM and $1.22MM. Staley’s new deal tacked on an extra six seasons at an average annual value of $7MM per year, giving the 49ers a total of nine years of club control after the time of signing.
The deal was a huge gamble at the time, but McCloughan saw tremendous potential in the former first-round pick and also anticipated some serious advancement in the left tackle market. He was right on both fronts. Before long, Staley’s contract went from bloated to bargain. Today, 18 left tackles – more than half of the league’s starters at the position – make more than $7MM per season.
Nine years ago, not every GM in the league would have bet big on Staley after he allowed 16.5 tackles over his first two seasons. But, with talent and determination, Staley persisted and blossomed into one of the league’s best left tackles. In a 2010 game against the Rams, Staley played through a broken left fibula as he did not want to let his teammates down.
“The X-rays were negative, so I went back out there,” Staley said afterwards. “Then I got kicked again, and I knew it was broken, but I stayed in for a couple plays.”
Staley’s six-year, $42MM deal turned into an below-market deal rather quickly. In 2014, the Niners gave Staley another early extension to reward him and keep him in the fold through 2019. Then, this past April, the Niners gave him another pay bump, giving him $17.5MM over the next two seasons.
Still, Staley’s pay does not quite match his performance. For reference, Giants left tackle Nate Solder is the kingpin at left tackle with an average of $15.5MM per year. Even with the raise, Staley will average roughly half of that over the next two seasons. Last year, Pro Football Focus had Staley ranked as the second-best tackle in the NFL in 2017 while Solder placed at No. 32.
Ravens Sign Lamar Jackson
Lamar Jackson is officially in the flock. On Tuesday, the Ravens announced that Jackson has signed his rookie contract. 
Heading into the draft, no one was quite sure where the quarterback would land. Some projected that he would wind up as a first round selection while others said he could slide all the way to the third round. With the final pick in the draft, the Ravens made Jackson a first rounder by trading their 52nd and 125th picks and a 2019 second-round selection to the Eagles for the No. 32 and No. 132 selections.
In Baltimore, the athletic QB will back up Joe Flacco. In time, the Ravens hope that he can blossom into their next starting signal caller. Already, the Louisville product has impressed teammates in practice.
“He’s been great. Obviously you know why we took him,” safety Eric Weddle told NFL Network recently. “He’s as talented of a player that I’ve seen coming into my 12th year. He’s got a live arm, he can sling it. Obviously, his ability to run and shake guys — you see it in team drills where things break down, he gets out on the perimeter and guys aren’t even close to him.”
Per the terms of his draft slot, Jackson will earn $9.471MM over the course of his four-year deal. And, because he was a first-round choice, the Ravens can control him through 2022 via the fifth-year option.
Jets To Sign DL Chris Jones
The Jets have signed former Patriots defensive lineman Chris Jones, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (on Twitter). To make room, fellow defensive lineman Claude Pelon was waived. 
Jones, not to be confused with the Chiefs defensive tackle of the same name, has bounced around the NFL since entering the league as a sixth-round pick in 2013. His most notable action came from 2013-14, when he started 22 total games for the Patriots, and in 2016, when he appeared in 13 games for the Dolphins and 49ers.
Jones, 28 in July, has been productive before, as he managed nine sacks from New England’s interior from 2013-14. But injuries have held him back in recent years: a torn calf muscle forced Jones to miss the entire 2015 campaign, while an undisclosed ailment led to Jones spending the 2017 season on injured reserve.
The Jets project to start Leonard Williams and Henry Anderson at defensive end with David Bass and third-round pick Nathan Shepherd among those in reserve, so Pelon was facing long odds of making the cut there. Meanwhile, the Jets are looking for a third nose tackle behind Steve McLendon and Mike Pennel, so Jones should have a reasonable shot at making the roster.