Trades! Five trades went down on deadline day, capping a year in which 61 deals were made involving at least one veteran player. The Eagles and Broncos each picked up a wide receiver, acquiring Golden Tate from the Lions and Demaryius Thomas from the Broncos, respectively, while the Ravens also picked up an offensive player by trading for beleaguered Packers running back Ty Montgomery. Green Bay wasn’t done trading, however, as they later shipped safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to the Redskins, while the undefeated Rams also added a defender in ex-Jaguars edge rusher Dante Flower.
Browns gut their coaching staff. Cleveland ownership finally had enough after the Browns fell to the Steelers last Sunday, firing both head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Reports of “internal discord” between the two coaches played a role in the dual decisions, but Jackson’s ghastly 3-32-1 record as the Browns’ lead man didn’t help matters. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has taken over as Cleveland’s interim head coach, while running backs coach Freddie Kitchens was promoted to offensive coordinator.
Buccaneers go with FitzMagic. Tampa Bay benched Jameis Winston after he tossed four interceptions against the Bengals last week, and the club went with Ryan Fitzpatrick again in Week 9. While a Sunday report indicated the Buccaneers could give Winston another chance at the starting job this season, Fitzpatrick played well against the Panthers, throwing four touchdowns against two picks in a comeback effort. Winston has a $20MM+ option for 2019 that’s guaranteed for injury only, so Tampa Bay would risk that figure getting locked in if Winston plays and gets seriously hurt.
Cardinals end Sam Bradford experiment. Arizona gave Bradford a $15MM guarantee this offseason, but they’ve cut the veteran signal-caller befoer the 2018 campaign ends. Bradford collected $15.9MM for 80 passes in the desert, as he fell to third on the Cardinals’ depth chart after the club decided to roll with first-round rookie Josh Rosen. It remains to be seen if Bradford will play again this year, although there’s no chance he’s claimed on waivers due to his contract. The Giants, who employ Bradford’s former offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur as head coach, have already said they’re not interested.
Raiders defense gets even weaker. Oakland’s defense already ranked a bottom-four DVOA unit heading into Week 9, and now it’s lost two of its key contributors. Defensive end Bruce Irvin, who had played 250 defensive snaps thus far, was released on Saturday. The Raiders likely waited until after the NFL’s trade deadline to release Irvin because he’ll now go through waivers, opening the possibility that another team could claim Irvin and — more importantly, from Oakland’s perspective — his contract. Additionally, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who’d ranked as Pro Football Focus’ No. 58 cornerback, announced his retirement last Tuesday.
Funny thing is how Evan Washburn said the raiders are dreadful and didn’t get penalized for it yet as field reporter, because u got to be unbiased on the field