HEADLINES

Month: September 2019

Titans Sign LS Beau Brinkley To Extension

September 6th, 2019 at 3:19pm CST by Zachary Links

The Titans have agreed to terms on a multi-year extension with long snapper Beau Brinkley, per a club announcement. Exact terms of the deal are not yet known.

Brinkley first joined the Titans as an undrafted free agent following the 2012 draft. Since then, he’s manned the long snapping spot for Tennessee. Currently, he’s partnered with punter Brett Kern, who has achieved Pro Bowl status in back-to-back seasons, thanks in part to Brinkley. Meanwhile, kickers Rob Bironas (2012-13) and Ryan Succop (2014-18) combined to make 85.6% of their field goals across Brinkley’s first seven seasons.

Last time around, in 2015, Brinkley inked a five-year, $5.75MM extension with the Titans. His new deal will give him a bit of a pay bump, plus increased security.

Raiders’ Antonio Brown To Play Vs. Broncos

September 6th, 2019 at 1:13pm CST by Zachary Links

What a week. What an offseason. 

Antonio Brown will play on Monday night against the Broncos, Raiders head coach Jon Gruden announced. Brown made a mea culpa to Raiders staffers and teammates on Friday morning, and that apparently put him back in the team’s good graces.

It’s a stunning turn of events, particularly after Brown’s latest incident. For those of you who haven’t been tuned in to the NFL’s most fascinating story of the offseason:

  • Brown threatened to retire, and skipped practices, when the NFL refused to let him wear his helmet of choice.
  • Brown was handed a letter, outlining fines for those missed practices when he returned to the club in late August. He expressed his dissatisfaction by posting a picture of the letter to social media and indicated that he would not pay the fine.
  • Sometime after, Brown nearly came to blows with GM Mike Mayock. He punted a football, threatened to punch him, and called him a “cracker.”

At least, that’s the Reader’s Digest version. There’s also the strange saga of Brown’s final two years in Pittsburgh, the trade that brought him to the Raiders, and the cryotherapy session gone awry that left him with a foot malady.

In light of all of that, the strangest twist of all is this: Brown will suit up and play in the Raiders’ season opener against the Broncos on Monday night.

Raiders’ Antonio Brown To Play On Monday?

September 6th, 2019 at 11:51am CST by Zachary Links

Things move fast in Oakland. On Thursday, Raiders coach Jon Gruden told people that Antonio Brown was not in the team’s plans for Monday. Now, there is a real chance he will not be suspended, allowing him to suit up for the season opener against the Broncos (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 

On Friday, Brown issued “an emotional apology” at a team meeting, while standing alongside team captains (Twitter link via Josina Anderson of ESPN.com). Things have been extremely fluid between Brown and the team all offseason long, but this could be a real turning point. At this moment, it appears that Brown is on course to face Denver.

Days ago, Brown got into a heated argument with GM Mike Mayock that reportedly included Brown:

After the incident, the Raiders appeared set on suspending Brown and voiding his ~$30MM in guarantees. But, despite that exchange, and all of the wild drama of the summer, the two parties appear ready to bury the hatchet – for now.

Latest On Raiders, Antonio Brown

September 6th, 2019 at 11:40am CST by Zachary Links

Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown and GM Mike Mayock got into it this week, and details of the argument are starting to emerge. At some point during the exchange, Brown cursed out Mayock and called him a “cracker,” according to ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson. 

It was previously reported that Brown also threatened to punch Mayock in the face and punted a football during the exchange. After sending the ball into the sky, Brown told the GM, “Fine me for that!” Mayock, it seems, is ready to take things a step further by suspending the mercurial star, which would put his ~$30MM guarantee in jeopardy.

Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, admits that Brown’s relationship with Mayock is not a great place. Meanwhile, he insists that Brown is on good terms with head coach Jon Gruden.

“Right now I think (Antonio Brown’s) relationship with Coach Gruden is good, very good. I’m not going to get into his relationship with Mike Mayock, but I will say that we’re hopeful that that will be a good one, as well. It has been in the past,” Rosenhaus said in an interview on ESPN.

The Raiders are reportedly set to suspend Brown, but nothing has officially happened on that front.

Chiefs, Tyreek Hill Agree To Extension

September 6th, 2019 at 10:58am CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs have agreed to a brand new deal with star wide receiver Tyreek Hill. The deal is worth $54MM over three years, Mike Florio of PFT tweets. 

Hill, of course, is a controversial figure. His partner, Crystal Espinal, has accused him of domestic violence, and, recently, there were allegations that Hill broke his three-year-old son’s arm. Hill did not receive league discipline or legal consequences for the claims of child abuse, and the Chiefs have stood by him.

Recently, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt met with Hill in person to discuss the latest controversy.

“So I had a good visit with him,” Hunt said. “I’m not going to get into the details of that conversation, but it was a very frank conversation, talking to him about responsibility as he comes back to be a Kansas City Chief.”

On the field, Hill has been absolute dynamite for the Chiefs. Last year, Hill nearly reached 1,500 yards receiving, averaged 17.0 yards per grab, and gave opposing defensive coordinators nightmares. His nickname – Cheetah – says it all. Hill is one of the fastest players in the entire league and one of the most dangerous on-field weapons the game has seen in years.

The $18MM average annual value of the deal makes Hill one of the highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL. It’s also shorter than it would have been, if not for his off-the-field issues, and includes a “unique structure” that is almost certainly team-friendly (Twitter link via Terez A. Paylor of Yahoo Sports). Hill will get a relatively modest $5.8MM signing bonus, though the deal includes $35.2MM in total guarantees.

From a football perspective, the deal is a big win for the Chiefs. They boast one of the league’s very best offenses with a core that is locked down for years to come thanks to these recent extensions:

Latest On Redskins, Trent Williams

September 6th, 2019 at 10:23am CST by Zachary Links

With two days to go before the Redskins’ season opener, Trent Williams‘ status remains in limbo. However, the offensive tackle is in town and talking with teammates (via Les Carpenter of the Washington Post). 

On Thursday, running back Adrian Peterson slipped and told reporters that he saw Williams, in person, on Wednesday night. However, he declined to speculate as to whether this means Williams will be rejoining the team.

“I don’t know,” Peterson said. “I don’t want to get into all that. It’s Thursday, he won’t be in this week for sure. But that’s not really what we talked about. We just caught up and saw how he was doing and how things are going for him.”

For now, the Redskins are refusing to trade Williams, and they plan to start Donald Penn at left tackle in the interim.

Patriots Cut Russell Bodine

September 6th, 2019 at 9:39am CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots are releasing newly acquired center Russell Bodine, according to Jim McBride of the Boston Globe (on Twitter). To take his place, they’ll re-sign center/guard James Ferentz.

The Pats shipped a sixth-round pick to the Bills for Bodine on August 30th. Apparently, in the last week or so, Bodine didn’t show enough to stick on the roster.

The Patriots initially carried Bodine on the 53-man squad, but he’s out of a job with just two days to go before the first Sunday of the NFL calendar. Ferentz, meanwhile, is back in the mix to help on the interior line, along with fellow new OLs Korey Cunningham and Jermaine Eluemunor.

Cowboys Notes: Elliott, Prescott, Cooper

September 5th, 2019 at 9:54pm CST by Ben Levine

With the Cowboys having extended running back Ezekiel Elliott, focus now turns to quarterback Dak Prescott and wideout Amari Cooper. The Cowboys are hopeful that they can complete deals by Sunday’s season opener, although executive vice president Stephen Jones seemed a bit more cautious in his optimism.

“Don’t ever say never,” Jones said (via ESPN’s Todd Archer). “The season doesn’t start until Sunday. We still got three or four days here. Obviously we’ve ended up signing a few players we didn’t necessarily know we were going to sign, but at the same time, I certainly felt optimistic that we can get these guys. Whether it’s by the start of the season or if it goes over that, it does. That was our goal. Sometimes you don’t get it quite done on the exact timing that you had hoped, but obviously the ultimate goal is to get them signed.”

Prescott also expressed some hope that a deal would get done, but he also acknowledged that his entire focus is on this weekend’s contest against the Giants.

“Obviously I want to see it done,” Prescott said. “To put a time frame on it, I think I’ve said this before, I’m not going to do that. At this point my focus is all on the Giants and the Giants defense and what this team needs to do to win the game. And next week it will roll to the next opponent. I don’t want to blur my mind or distract myself any with thinking about those talks or thinking about what’s going on when I’ve got enough on my plate to handle. So I’m just focused on the Giants and I’ve got people to take care of [the contract].”

Let’s check out some more notes out of Dallas…

  • As David Moore of the Dallas News points out, the Cowboys have handed out more than $300MM ($185.5MM guaranteed) to four players over the past five months: Elliott, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, linebacker Jaylon Smith, and offensive lineman La’el Collins. Now, the front office has to fit Prescott and Cooper into their budget, but Moore sounds confident that the organization will get the duo signed thanks to Jerry Jones’ willingness to take risks. Ultimately, the owner doesn’t want a repeat of last season, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to optimize the 2019 squad.
  • The Cowboys were granted a roster exemption for Elliott that will expire on September 16th, tweets NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. This means the team doesn’t have to make room for the running back on the active roster until that date, although they can still carry only 46 players on game day.
  • Rapoport also tweets that the Cowboys aren’t concerned about Elliott’s preseason absence. The 24-year-old already has 868 career carries, an indicator that he’s plenty familiar with the offense. Ultimately, the team was confident that whenever the running back showed up, he’d be ready to go.
  • ESPN’s Mike Tannenbaum observes (on Twitter) that the Cowboys only gave Elliott a $7.5MM signing bonus, which is a far cry from Todd Gurley‘s $21MM signing bonus. That means the rest of the running back’s $42.55MM can be voided if he’s hit with another suspension. Ultimately, the Cowboys got protection in case of any off-field issues, but they also are willing to pay Elliott as long as he stays out of trouble. Meanwhile, Albert Breer of TheMMQB tweets that the Cowboys effectively gave Elliott a fully-guaranteed deal through four years, which is pretty unprecedented for the position.

AB Notes: Gruden, Guarantees, Personal Conduct Policy

September 5th, 2019 at 8:08pm CST by Ben Levine

Following a chaotic day in Oakland, head coach Jon Gruden finally had a chance to address the Antonio Brown fiasco.

“Like I said, I’m not going to get into all of this,” Gruden said (via ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez). “Obviously, he wasn’t here today and when we have some information for you, we’ll give it to you. …I’ve been talking about the same guy every day.

“…I’m emotional about it, I hope you understand why. I think a lot of this guy. I think Antonio is a great receiver, and deep down I think he’s a really good guy. So, I’m frustrated, I’m not going to say anything more about it, hope it all works out. But I don’t have anything official to say about anything else, until I get all the facts and that’s what I’m going to do.”

At the very least, Gruden will have to prepare for Monday night’s season opener without the star receiver. We learned earlier this evening that the team was proceeding as if Brown won’t be available for Week 1.

Let’s check out some more notes out of Oakland…

  • We learned earlier that the Raiders could suspend Brown with the intention of voiding his more than $30MM in guarantees. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com reviewed the receiver’s contract, and he notes that Brown’s behavior (and subsequent fines) already put him in default. Since he left training camp and later missed a walkthrough, the organization would already have the right to void the guarantees. In other words, if the team is done with Brown, a suspension wouldn’t have to precede his inevitable release.
  • If it’s true that Brown threatened to hit general manager Mike Mayock, then the receiver could also face discipline under the NFL Personal Conduct Policy (per Florio). It sounds like Brown couldn’t be suspended for the same violation by both the organization and the NFL, although Florio notes that the Raiders could justify some other reason for banning the wideout.
  • Agent Drew Rosenhaus talked to Stacey Dales on NFL Network, and colleague James Palmer snagged a couple of the soundbites (via Twitter). “I believe he wants to be an Oakland Raider,” Rosenhaus said. “I believe he wants to play. I believe he’s going to have a great season.” The agent also said he’s having ongoing negotiations with the team, but there’s no real timeline for a resolution.
  • Florio also got quotes from Rosenhaus (via PFT’s Michael David Smith): “I think there’s been a lot of speculation. The reality is that we’re still talking through many scenarios. There has yet to be a suspension. Nothing is final yet. I’ve been in touch with Coach Gruden, Mike Mayock. We’re doing our best to work this out. Trying to keep this relationship moving in a good direction again.”

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/5/19

September 5th, 2019 at 6:49pm CST by Ben Levine

Here are Thursday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Denver Broncos

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: LB Joe Dineen

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Washington Redskins

Load More Posts