HEADLINES

Month: October 2020

Jets Shopping Quinnen Williams?

October 27th, 2020 at 10:41am CST by Zachary Links

The Jets are shopping defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (on Twitter). However, other Jets beat writers — like Ralph Vacchiano of SNY (Twitter link) — say that “shopping” is a strong word. But, at minimum, they may be keeping an open ear to inquiries.

[RELATED: Jets DL Kyle Phillips Done For Season]

For the lowly Jets, it may be a matter of semantics. With a record of 0-7 and a limited budget for 2020, the Jets are clearly in need of a revamp. Trading Williams, of course, would signal an overhaul. Williams, 23 in December, was drafted third overall just last year. The former Crimson Tide standout has been a starter ever since, and he has the talent to be a cornerstone for years to come.

The Jets, according to Mehta, would want more than a second-round pick for Williams. That’s a fair ask, given his draft status and his own personal improvement in the face of the Jets’ general disarray. Through seven games, Williams has five tackles for loss and ranks as one of the league’s very best run-stoppers on the interior, according to Pro Football Focus.

It’s worth noting that Williams was the final first-round choice of the Mike Maccagnan era. New GM Joe Douglas — who took over months later — might not share the same affection

Packers To Sign WR Seth Roberts

October 27th, 2020 at 9:18am CST by Zachary Links

The Packers are set to sign wide receiver Seth Roberts, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (Twitter link). To make the numbers work, he’ll first be added to the practice squad before promoted to the varsity squad.

Roberts got a one-year, $3.75MM deal from the Panthers back in March, and ended up only catching four passes for 31 yards for the team. The Panthers started shopping Roberts in August, but they couldn’t find any takers. He lasted nearly half-a-season before being released earlier this week.

A 2014 UDFA from West Alabama, Roberts spent the first five years of his career in Oakland. He had some real success with the Raiders, notching at least 397 yards in four straight seasons from 2015-18. He also had five touchdowns in two of those campaigns. He spent last year with the Ravens and finished with 271 yards and two scores. All in all, Roberts has notched 183 catches, 2,128 yards, and 15 touchdowns over the course of his career.

Roberts’ Green Bay debut could come on Sunday when the 5-1 Packers face the 1-5 Vikings.

Alabama WR Jaylen Waddle Done For Year

October 27th, 2020 at 9:08am CST by Zachary Links

The season is over for one of the top prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft. Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle is done for the year after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured ankle, head coach Nick Saban announced. 

“It’s a difficult timetable to know when a guy can come back from something like this,” Saban said (via Mike Rodak of AL.com). “That’s something that’s going to be ongoing. Probably six to eight weeks before he can even start real heavy rehab, then relative to your position, how fast you can come back after that is really, really up in the air.”

Saban didn’t explicitly rule out Waddle for the season when speaking with reporters, but the operation makes his return a near impossibility. At 5’10”, 180 pounds, Saban likened Waddle to the football version of Allen Iverson. Pro evaluators agree – Waddle’s athleticism has been on full display over the last three years, both on offense and in the return game. He put himself on the radar as a frosh in 2018 with 18.8 yards per catch. This year, he pushed his stock even further with an eye-popping 22.3 yards per grab.

The injury could prompt Waddle to return, but he’s still likely to be in the first round mix if he makes a full recovery. He’s already proven to be lethal in the slot and in the punt return game (19.3 yards per return average), so he’ll be especially coveted if he can display a full array of routes in workouts.

Buccaneers Officially Sign Antonio Brown

October 27th, 2020 at 8:39am CST by Zachary Links

It’s a done deal. On Tuesday, the Buccaneers formally inked Antonio Brown to a one-year contract, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. 

[RELATED: Reactions To Antonio Brown Signing With Buccaneers]

Brown is officially in the fold, though he won’t be eligible to play until Week 9. His one-year pact will pay just $1MM in base salary and bonuses, with the potential to reach as much as $2.5MM. If the Bucs win the Super Bowl, AB will receive a $750K bonus, and he has three separate $250K bonuses for receptions, yards, and TD milestones. Those incentives are only in play if the Bucs reach the playoffs.

Brown, 32, will be eligible to join the club at their team facility on Wednesday, once he’s cleared COVID-19 testing. He can’t practice until Week 9, but he can attend meetings and train with the team’s conditioning staff in the interim.

There was pushback, but Tom Brady talked Tampa Bay into adding the multiple-time Pro Bowler. Bucs head coach Bruce Arians was insistent that the team would not add Brown. Ultimately, Brady got his way.

The Bucs didn’t necessarily need Brown a few months ago, given their wealth of receiving talent. However, injuries for Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Scott Miller, and O.J. Howard changed things. There’s reason to worry about the balance of the locker room with Brown, though offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, offensive assistant Antwaan Randle El, and outside linebackers coach Larry Foote all played with the mercurial veteran. There’s hope that, together, they can keep Brown on the right track.

On the field, Brady arguably has the best receiving cast of his career. With Godwin, Evans and Rob Gronkowski, the future Hall of Famer has a wealth of weapons at his disposal.

Cowboys Shopping Everson Griffen?

October 26th, 2020 at 5:31pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Cowboys are still only a half-game back in the race for the NFC East and could move into sole possession of first place with a win this weekend, but might they be packing it in already? Dallas has “made it known” that veteran defensive end Everson Griffen is available for trade, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.

Rapoport’s tweet makes it sound like the Cowboys are looking to unload the roughly half of his $6MM salary left on the books to a contending team. It’s perhaps the biggest sign yet of just how disastrous things have gotten for the Cowboys in such a short amount of time. Just a few weeks ago the notion of Dallas being sellers at the trade deadline would’ve been unfathomable. If this report is true, then it’ll be interesting to see what other moves they might make before next Tuesday.

For a team that entered the year with Super Bowl aspirations, it’s a pretty dramatic admission of defeat. Obviously the impact of Dak Prescott‘s injury can’t be overstated, but the defense has been a complete mess and the coaching staff led by Mike McCarthy appears on the verge of losing the locker room.

Griffen, 33 in December, signed with the Cowboys in August looking to compete for a title. He’s been playing a little over half of the defensive snaps this season, racking up 20 tackles and 2.5 sacks through seven games. Griffen has made the Pro Bowl in four of the past five seasons, including last year when he had eight sacks with Minnesota, so a number of contenders could be interested despite his relatively advanced age.

There are a handful of suitors that make sense, as teams like the Seahawks and Cardinals look in line for playoff spots but don’t have much of a pass-rush. We heard the Cardinals were interested in him as a free agent earlier this offseason and they’re now without star pass-rusher Chandler Jones for the rest of the year, so they could make a lot of sense. The Packers were another team engaged in discussions with the USC product as recently as late July.

All of this being said, the report is apparently news to Griffen himself. Griffen said “I don’t think the Cowboys want to trade me. I haven’t heard that,” when asked by Josina Anderson of ESPN (Twitter link). Meanwhile a source told Anderson that teams have called, but the Cowboys haven’t “shopped him officially.” Assuming he is shipped out it would mean more playing time for Randy Gregory, who only played six defensive snaps this past weekend in his first action since 2018.

Vikings Designate Pat Elflein, Troy Dye To Return

October 26th, 2020 at 5:10pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Vikings are in the midst of an abysmal campaign at 1-5, but they at least have some reinforcements on the way. Minnesota is designating guard Pat Elflein and linebacker Troy Dye to return from injured reserve, they announced Monday.

Each can return to practice, and the team now has a three-week window to activate either player. If they are not activated in that span, they’ll be ineligible to return for the remainder of the year. Those weren’t the only roster moves the Vikings made following their bye week, as they also claimed cornerback Chris Jones off waivers from the Lions and signed cornerback Mark Fields to the active roster from the practice squad. Clearly, the Vikings feel they need help in the secondary, and it’s hard to argue with that given what we’ve seen so far.

Elflein became the Vikings’ starter at center his first two years in the league, then switched to guard last season and started 15 games there. He played every snap in Week 1 but was placed on injured reserve with a knee issue shortly thereafter. Elflein has never been viewed too positively by most evaluators, but it can’t hurt to get a starter back.

Dye is a fourth-round rookie from Oregon who could help with a defense that has been struggling mightily. He started to get defensive snaps in Week 2 after Anthony Barr picked up his season-ending injury, but then promptly went down with a foot injury of his own.

Jones is a 2018 UDFA from Nebraska who appeared in 11 games with three starts for the Cardinals last year. He had 22 tackles and six passes defended. Fields is a 2019 UDFA from Clemson who spent most of last year on Minnesota’s practice squad and has been shuffling back and forth between there and the active roster this season.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/26/20

October 26th, 2020 at 4:26pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Atlanta Falcons

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Titans Cut Will Compton

October 26th, 2020 at 3:53pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Will Compton‘s return to Tennessee didn’t last too long. The Titans have cut the veteran linebacker, Jim Wyatt of the team’s official site tweets.

Compton is somewhat of a fan favorite and co-hosts a popular podcast with (now former) teammate Taylor Lewan, but he hadn’t been contributing much on the field. Signed in late August, Compton played a big role on defense in Week 1 but has since been limited to special teams work. A full-time starter with Washington from 2015-16, Compton missed half of the 2017 season due to injury.

He then signed with Tennessee and played in 12 games in 2018, starting two. He appeared in nine games with the Raiders last year, starting four. He spent this whole offseason as a free agent and didn’t draw a ton of known interest. Now 31 and mostly a special teamer the past few years, he won’t have teams beating down his door now that he’s back on the market.

Injury Updates: McCaffrey, Fulton, Carson, Drake

October 26th, 2020 at 3:29pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Panthers superstar Christian McCaffrey returned to practice Monday, which is certainly a welcome sign considering he hasn’t been out there since Week 2. While it’s a step in the right direction, it doesn’t mean McCaffrey will be suiting up for Carolina on Thursday Night Football this week. In fact, CMAC is a “long-shot” to play in their division game against the Falcons, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).

Mike Davis took over as the Panthers’ running back and got off to a hot start, but he’s since cooled off significantly and only had 12 rushing yards yesterday. As such, McCaffrey’s return can’t come quick enough. The Panthers are now 3-4 and desperately need a win over Atlanta if they want to stay in the NFC playoff picture. McCaffrey went down with a high ankle sprain in their Week 2 game against the Bucs and has been sidelined ever since.

Here’s more health updates from around the league:

  • The Titans lost their first game of the season on Sunday, and they also lost a key piece of their defense for a while. Rookie cornerback Kristian Fulton will miss a “few weeks” with a knee injury, according to veteran beat writer Paul Kuharsky (Twitter link). Kuharsky writes that it’s unclear if he’ll go on injured reserve, which would require him to miss at least three games. A second-round pick in April’s draft, Fulton has started the Titans’ last two games after missing one on the COVID-19 list. Tennessee’s secondary has already struggled mightily, so this is an unwelcome development for Mike Vrabel’s unit.
  • The Bengals have already had a tough time blocking for Joe Burrow, and Cincy fans everywhere were holding their breath when starting left tackle Jonah Williams went down with a neck injury yesterday. Fortunately, the “early indications” are that the injury is not “overly serious,” a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Rapsheet says Williams may miss this week, but there is some optimism he could return after their Week 9 bye. The 11th overall pick of the 2019 draft, Williams missed his entire rookie season with a shoulder injury but had played every snap this year before going down.
  • Williams isn’t the only member of the Bengals’ offensive line banged up, as starting right tackle Bobby Hart also got hurt against Cleveland. Hart will miss this weekend’s game against Tennessee, head coach Zac Taylor announced Monday. Hart had also started all seven games this season, and now it looks like Burrow might be without each of his starting tackles this season. Given that he’s already been running for his life in most weeks, this could be a recipe for disaster.
  • The Seahawks also lost their first game of the season Sunday, and now it looks like they’ll be without starting running back Chris Carson for a while. Carson suffered a mid-foot sprain that will leave him week to week, Rapoport tweets. While Carson will apparently miss some time it doesn’t sound like anything too serious, and he shouldn’t be on the shelf too long. Fellow running back Travis Homer also got hurt on Sunday night, and we’re still waiting on an update on him.
  • The Cardinals beat Seattle on Sunday night, but unfortunately the recently signed linebacker Isaiah Irving suffered a serious injury and had to be carted off. Irving suffered a back injury that will likely sideline him for the rest of the season, a source told Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Signed off Denver’s practice squad a couple of weeks ago, Irving was in his first game with the Cards and was only playing on special teams, so this won’t have too much impact on Arizona’s defense. Hopefully Irving is able to make a swift and full recovery.
  • Irving wasn’t the only Cardinal to go down. Starting running back Kenyan Drake hurt his ankle, and he’s going to miss some time. Drake will miss a few weeks with a slight ligament tear in his ankle, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Chase Edmonds, the highly talented change of pace back, will now get a chance to shine in Drake’s absence. Fortunately Arizona has a bye in Week 8, which will reduce the number of games Drake has to miss. Schefter adds that the team is treating the ligament issue essentially like a high ankle sprain.
  • Chargers tight end Virgil Green came down with a crucial touchdown in Los Angeles’ win over the Jaguars, but unfortunately he hurt himself on the play. Green will miss several weeks with a lateral ankle sprain, Rapoport tweets, and he’s a candidate for injured reserve. The Chargers still have Hunter Henry of course, but this is a significant blow as they like to run multiple tight end sets. Second-year UDFA from Stetson Donald Parham also caught a touchdown from Justin Herbert on Sunday, and should be in line for more playing time moving forward. Green, in his third season with the Chargers, has always been more of a blocker than receiver during his ten-year career.

Panthers Cut WR Seth Roberts

October 26th, 2020 at 2:48pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Seth Roberts hasn’t seen many balls come his way this season, and now he’ll be looking for a new home. The Panthers have cut the veteran receiver, the team announced Monday.

We heard right after final cuts that Carolina was shopping Roberts, but obviously they couldn’t find any takers. Roberts got a one-year, $3.75MM deal from the Panthers back in March, and ended up only catching four passes for 31 yards for the team. Despite the lack of production he was still receiving real playing time, and he played 41 percent of the defensive snaps just yesterday against the Saints.

A 2014 UDFA from West Alabama, Roberts spent the first five years of his career in Oakland. He had some real success with the Raiders, notching at least 397 yards in four straight seasons from 2015-18. He also had five touchdowns in two of those campaigns. He spent last year with the Ravens and finished with 271 yards and two scores.

Carolina has plenty of talent at receiver with the likes of D.J. Moore, Robby Anderson, and Curtis Samuel, so Roberts wasn’t really needed much. Still only 29, Roberts should resurface on a cheap deal with a team in need of receiving help at some point soon.

Load More Posts