Minor NFL Transactions: 7/20/18
Here are Friday’s minor moves.
Arizona Cardinals
- Waived/NFI: TE Beau Sandland
Detroit Lions
- Released from IR: TE Brandon Barnes
New England Patriots
- Placed on reserve/retired list: OL Andrew Jelks
Jets Eyeing 2019 Leonard Williams Extension
Three defenders from the 2014 draft class remain without second contracts, ones that are expected to set the market for future high-profile re-up candidates. Leonard Williams looms as of those who may have an easier time once Aaron Donald, Khalil Mack and Jadeveon Clowney agree to deals.
Williams resides as the Jets’ cornerstone defensive player, and the team is planning to reward him with an extension. The Jets want to extend their 2015 first-round pick in 2019, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports.
The Jets picked up Williams’ $14.2MM fifth-year option in May and have him under contract through the 2019 season, so this timeline makes sense.
The respective outcomes of the Rams’, Raiders’ and Texans’ respective negotiations with their 2014 first-round stars could set up Williams for a major payday next year. Williams isn’t too worried about an imminent extension, which is logical since the landscape could look better for him once Donald, Mack and Clowney are locked into second contracts.
Williams also resides on a team that stands to possess far more cap space than any of the franchises on the brink of authorizing big defensive contracts. New York is projected to hold a league-high $87MM-plus in cap space next year and will likely have a clearer picture of what it will take to retain its top defensive lineman long-term after potential late-summer deals are completed this year.
Not that it will necessarily require a contract that eclipses $20MM per year to extend Williams, but considering the cap’s annual climb of approximately $10MM, that might not be an unreasonable proposition for a team flush in cap room and low on long-term cogs who are extension-eligible.
Hooker, Geathers Likely To Land On PUP List
While Andrew Luck is expected at long last to be ready to go at Colts training camp, three of his teammates aren’t likely to join him at the Frank Reich-led practices’ outset.
Colts left tackle Anthony Castonzo, along with safeties Malik Hooker and Clayton Geathers, are likely to begin training camp on the PUP list, Mike Chappell of CBS 4 notes.
Castonzo’s issue is merely a hamstring he tweaked this offseason, per Chappell, who adds he should be back soon. Hooker, Indianapolis’ top safety, was not expected to be ready in time for camp. But Chris Ballard provided an update on his initial draft pick as Colts GM.
The second-year Indianapolis GM said Hooker “should return” in time for the second half of the Colts’ preseason. This represents a more definitive timetable for Hooker, who tore an ACL and MCL Oct. 22, 2017. Previous updates were vague and didn’t have the Ohio State safety looking certain for Week 1.
While that’s still uncertain, Ballard supplied more clarity. Geathers, however, has encountered a new problem than the one that plagued him last offseason.
A neck injury shelved Geathers for 10 games last season, but he won’t be landing on the PUP because of it. He underwent knee surgery earlier this offseason and is working his way back, with Ballard indicating the fourth-year safety is 80 to 85 percent at present. Injuries have limited Geathers significantly during his career. He played in just nine games in 2016 and five last year.
The Colts report to camp Wednesday. Players who begin camp on the PUP list can be taken off and deployed in Week 1. If they land on the Reserve/PUP list at the end of the preseason, they are out for the season’s first six weeks.
Latest On Anthem Issue
Months after the NFL passed an anthem policy without players’ input — one that appeared to reignite the issue and please few in the process — the NFLPA’s grievance caused the league to pump the brakes on it. Now, the old policy is in place after the NFL and the union agreed to resume talks on the issue.
Some new developments surfaced Friday. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross attempted to navigate the PR damage his team’s anthem policy — potentially a four-game suspension for players who kneel during the song’s playing, news of which broke before the NFL-NFLPA’s joint statement emerged Thursday night — by saying this course of action was merely a placeholder.
“We were asked to submit a form to the NFL on our overall discipline policy prior to the start of the rookie report date. The one-line sentence related to the national anthem was a placeholder as we haven’t made a decision on what we would do, if anything, at that point,” Ross said in a statement (Twitter link).
Giants co-owner Steve Tisch also discussed this issue, coming out on the players’ side of the discussion. Tisch said, via Marc Malkin of the Hollywood Reporter, Giants players will not be disciplined for protesting during the anthem. However, it’s not known if the Giants’ better-known co-owner, the influential John Mara, is fully on board.
“We support our players,” Tisch said. “They are not going to be punished. There is not going to be any punitive action taking place against them.”
President Donald Trump (Twitter link) resurfaced with thoughts on this issue, which has become one of his frequent talking points. Perhaps rhetorically, Trump asked if it was “in contract that players must stand at attention, hand on heart?” No such language exists in any player’s contract. Trump also suggested the NFL first suspend players who kneel during the anthem before calling for Roger Goodell to suspend protesters without pay for the season were they to do so a second time.
The Dolphins’ leaked placeholder policy did not prompt the sides to issue their joint statement Thursday night, Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports, adding both sides hope this resolved before Week 1. Maske reports an arbitrator also was not required to produce Thursday’s statement scrapping May anthem policy, pointing out the league and the union have engaged in dialogue since the June grievance emerged.
The NFLPA, not the Players Coalition, is overseeing the talks with the NFL this time, Maske reports.
“I know there have been conversations about the grievance. But in terms of sitting down to talk about a resolution with players being involved, there hasn’t been anything yet,” Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, part of the NFLPA’s ruling executive committee, told Maske. “That’s the whole purpose, to have some face-to-face conversations about this. That’s what’s in the works now.”
Edmonton Eskimos Drop Terrell Owens From Negotiating List
Terrell Owens‘ prospective path back to a organized football became cloudier on Friday, when the Edmonton Eskimos dropped him from their exclusive negotiating list, Farhan Lalji of TSN reports (on Twitter).
Earlier this week, a report emerged indicating the Pro Football Hall of Fame-bound wide receiver was on the CFL team’s negotiating list. That gave the Eskimos exclusive rights to work out a contract with Owens. The sides had until Tuesday to work out a deal.
Now, he could sign with another CFL team if he chooses (or if another one expresses interest).
Owens said he was not actively seeking a return to the NFL, despite having said for many years he could help a team, but has been training often and indicated he is entertaining the prospect of a comeback. The 44-year-old former All-Pro has trained with Julio Jones this summer.
The CFL’s minimum salary is $54K. It’s possible Owens did not want to return at that rate. Whatever the case may be, he’s no longer connected to Edmonton for a potential gridiron return.
The former 49ers, Eagles, Cowboys, Bills and Bengals wideout has not played since the 2010 NFL season. He’s set to be enshrined in Canton in August, though he won’t be attending the induction ceremony.
Packers, Aaron Rodgers Far Apart On Contract
It doesn’t sound like a new deal between Packers and Aaron Rodgers is imminent. No meaningful progress has been made recently on a contract extension and nothing will happen right away, barring a dramatic change, a source tells Mike Florio of PFT. 
[RELATED: Aaron Rodgers Wants To Play Until He’s 40]
Rodgers is averaging about $22MM/year on his current deal and will average $19.9MM in the final two years of the pact. Those numbers are well below market for a quarterback of his caliber, but Rodgers also isn’t publicly making a big fuss over his next deal. Behind the scenes, it’s likely that Rodgers has pushed for a unique deal to highlight his unique talent level.
“It’s only been on my mind because … people have been writing and talking about it a lot,” Rodgers said recently when asked about the possibility of a non-traditional contract extension. “There have been many conversations about it. I think that there’s some merit to looking into where you do a non-traditional contractual agreement. If anybody at this point is gonna be able to do something like that, I think there needs to be a conversation about it. I never said anything about [tying the contract to] the cap. I just think there’s ways to do contracts where you can still be competitive so the team is happy about it, but have some more freedom.”
The Packers, meanwhile, have lots of leverage here. After paying him $39.8MM over the next two seasons, the Packers can franchise tag him in 2021. After that, they can franchise tag him once again for 2022, if they’re willing to give him a 20% pay bump over the ’21 tender. Assuming a rate of $27MM in ’21, that comes out an average of less than $25MM/year for the next four seasons. It’s not clear what the Packers would want in return for surrendering that option, especially since it would keep Rodgers in place through his age-38 season.
NFL Suspends Jaguars’ Dante Fowler
The NFL has suspended Jaguars pass rusher Dante Fowler for the first game of the 2018 regular season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. This ban stems from an arrest that happened back in 2017. 
This is a big year for Fowler, as he is ticketed for free agency after the year. The Florida product managed eight sacks last year, but the Jaguars were wary of committing to him after he missed all of his would-be rookie season and was a bit uneven in 2016. The fifth-year option is guaranteed for injury only, but that’s more than a formality when it comes to a player with an ACL tear on his medical records.
Roughly one year ago today, Fowler was arrested in St. Petersburg, Florida for simple battery and mischief. Cops claimed that Fowler got out of his car and got into a verbal exchange with a man who commented on his driving. When they came face to face, the defensive end allegedly hit the man, knocked off his glasses, and stepped on them. He then proceeded to take the victim’s grocery bag and throw it in a nearby lake. It was not his first run-in with the law.
Fowler will miss the Jags’ season opener against the Giants in New Jersey. He’ll be eligible to return for the team’s home opener in Week 2 against the Patriots on Sept. 16. Per league rules, Fowler will be permitted to participate in practices and preseason games in the interim.
Andrew Luck “Good To Go” For Camp
Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is “good to go” for training camp, Colts GM Chris Ballard tells reporters (Twitter link via Stephen Holder of the Indy Star). That means Luck won’t have to begin next week on the PUP list, which is a very positive sign for his progress. 
[RELATED: Looking Back On Luck’s Massive Contract Extension]
Luck will still take some days off, but there won’t be any limitations while he’s on the field. Before Ballard’s announcement today, no one was quite sure of Luck’s status for camp.
The QB missed all of 2017 with a shoulder issue and was finally able to throw a regulation-sized football in June. The Colts have been extremely cautious with Luck this offseason as the quarterback admitted that he attempted a 2017 return too quickly. Last season, the Colts were insistent that Luck would eventually return to the field, but they had to throw in the towel in November by placing him on IR.
Luck’s shoulder was largely a non-issue in 2016 as he threw for 4,240 yards and 31 touchdowns with a career-high 63.5 completion percentage. After months of surgeries, procedures, and grueling rehab, the Colts are hoping that Luck will be able to reprise that performance in 2018.
When healthy, Luck is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. The Stanford product posted more than 70 combined touchdowns in 2014 and 2016, and the 28-year-old (29 in September) is a three-time Pro Bowler.
AFC Notes: Bills, Allen, Texans, Watson
The Bills began discussing the idea of taking a quarterback near the top of the 2018 draft all the way back in May 2017 when general manager Brandon Beane was hired, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.
“It’s a quarterback league; you’ve either got one or you don’t,” Beane said. “And we were getting to know Tyrod and Tyrod brought a lot of good things for us, but we decided as the season moved on that we were probably going to go in a different direction, and at the same time we were still thinking, ‘OK, if Tyrod is our guy we’ll draft other things, and if not, we’ll be ready to move forward.’ And that planning really started in August with some of the moves we made, and to add the draft capital that we did.”
When it came time for the draft, the Bills managed to move up for Allen by sending their No. 12 pick and two second-round picks to the Bucs for the No. 7 choice. After that, the Bills doubted that they would be able to land Virginia Tech linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, who was another one of their top targets. Luckily for them, the Raiders opted to bolster their offensive line with the No. 15 pick, giving them an opportunity to trade up for Baltimore’s pick at No. 16.
“We had tried to trade with Oakland … and they were like, ‘No, we’re taking the pick,‘” Beane said. “So I called [Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome] and we agreed to the terms while Oakland was still on the clock and he said, ‘Let me know if your guy is still there.’ So until I heard them say it was Kolton Miller you had to assume that they were taking Tremaine. And if they had we would have stayed pat at 22.”
The Bills are happy with how things turned out in the first round, but it may take a while before we see how this draft class pans out, particularly when it comes to Allen.
Here’s more from the AFC:
- Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson tells NFL Network that he expects to be “full-go” for the first day of training camp (Twitter link via Adam Wexler of KPRC). Watson was able to practice without a knee brace during the team’s minicamp last month, so it was expected that he would be ready to roll for camp this month. Watson threw for 19 touchdown passes in his injury-shortened seven-game season and expectations are high heading into Year Two.
- Colts GM Chris Ballard says the team will have Chris McCain in training camp as his legal process plays out. “We’re getting two extreme versions of the truth,” Ballard said (Twitter link via Stephen Holder of the Indy Star). McCain has been charged with battery in California, but maintains his innocence.
- Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman will not sue the NFL over his four-game suspension.
AFC North Notes: Steelers, Rudolph, Rogers
The Steelers‘ backup quarterback competition is one to watch this summer, Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. Landry Jones has been a functional backup for the Steelers, but hasn’t been called upon in the last two years as Roethlisberger has been largely healthy. This year, rookie Mason Rudolph could supplant Jones as the No. 2 QB, leaving him one ill-fated play away from commanding the Steelers’ offense.
If Rudolph is as good as advertised, one can’t help but wonder if the Steelers could opt to carry two QBs instead of three, leaving Jones without a job. There has been no indication that Jones, who is entering his sixth NFL season, is on the bubble, but it may be something to keep in mind during training camp.
Here’s more from the AFC North:
- Free agent wide receiver Eli Rogers says he’ll “choose” where he’ll be play within the next few days (Twitter link). Rogers has been waiting in limbo after undergoing knee surgery this offseason. Rogers was a surprise standout for the Steelers in 2016 as he caught 48 passes for 504 yards and three touchdowns and continued his strong play in the postseason. He couldn’t replicate those numbers last year, but the Steelers are still said to be interested in re-signing him.
- The Ravens announced that tight end Vince Mayle is off the PUP list. Mayle was previously dealing with a high ankle sprain, but he passed his physical and is now eligible to practice. Mayle will have to compete for his job as the team has two locks at TE in first-round pick Hayden Hurst and third-round pick Mark Andrews. Mayle, Nick Boyle, Maxx Williams are competing for no more than two jobs, and it’s possible that only one other TE will make the cut behind the team’s rookies.
- Former Bengals first-round pick Cedric Ogbuehi is feeling good about his move to right tackle.
- Will Browns rookie Baker Mayfield start the most games of any first-round QB this year? Or will it be Ravens QB Lamar Jackson? Or one of the other three signal callers? Click here to cast your vote.