HEADLINES

Month: October 2020

Odell Beckham Jr. Has Major Knee Injury

October 25th, 2020 at 4:43pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Browns improved to 5-2 for the first time in ages with their thrilling comeback win over the Bengals, but they didn’t escape Cincinnati unscathed. Star receiver Odell Beckham Jr is “feared to have suffered a major injury,” a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).

Rapoport added that Beckham will have an MRI tomorrow to tell the full story, but that the “early indications aren’t good.” It’s unclear what exactly the injury is, but most often when it’s something serious like an ACL for example the team knows right away from physical exams and the MRI is only for confirmation. Whatever it turns out to be, if Baker Mayfield wants to keep the magic going in Cleveland it sounds like he’s going to have to do it without his top weapon moving forward.

Beckham is in his second season with the Browns, and has had a tumultuous time with the team. He finished with 1,035 yards and four touchdowns last year, respectable numbers, but easily the worst in his career for a full season. His name has continuously popped up in trade rumors, with the team emphatically shooting down the latest round of speculation just a few weeks ago.

His production so far this season has been relatively disappointing, as the Browns have transitioned to a run-first offense that doesn’t have Mayfield chuck it too much. He didn’t top 81 yards in any of the seven games he’s played in, and outside of one three-touchdown outburst has been mostly quiet.

Cleveland traded first and third-round picks, as well as safety Jabrill Peppers and offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler for Beckham and pass-rusher Olivier Vernon back in March of 2019. Beckham is signed through the 2023 season.

Landon Collins Done For The Year

October 25th, 2020 at 4:19pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Washington picked up their first win of the year since Week 1 when they crushed the Cowboys on Sunday, but that victory now has a dark cloud hanging over it. Safety Landon Collins has suffered an Achilles injury that is believed to be season-ending, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets.

That means it’s almost certainly a torn Achilles for the Alabama product. It’s a brutal blow to a Washington defense that quietly has a lot of talent on it. Washington is 2-5, but thanks to the pitiful state of the NFC East they’re still very much alive in the race for first place and are currently only a half-game back of the Eagles. Collins was drafted by the Giants with the first pick of the second-round back in 2015, and spent his first four seasons in New York.

He then made the jump within the division as a free agent last year, signing a massive six-year, $84MM deal with Washington. Torn Achilles’ can obviously be tricky, and Collins should at the very least miss most of next offseason. Hopefully he’s able to make a full recovery in time for the 2021 season.

Collins, who made the Pro Bowl three straight years from 2016-18, had been an every down player for Washington this season. He had a crucial strip-sack of Andy Dalton early in the game before going down. He’ll finish the season with 41 tackles, two sacks, and an interception.

Quinton Spain To Visit Bengals

October 25th, 2020 at 12:26pm CST by Rory Parks

Shortly after he was released by the Bills, veteran guard Quinton Spain is taking a visit with a new prospective employer. As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports, the Bengals will be hosting Spain later this week (Twitter link).

Cincinnati’s offensive line has been a disaster, and the team needs to do something to protect rookie signal-caller Joe Burrow, who has looked good in his first professional season, but who has been sacked 19 times through six games. Though Burrow has made some youthful mistakes in holding onto the ball too long on occasion, Football Outsiders’ advanced metrics indicate that the Bengals’ O-line is among the worst in terms of both pass-blocking and run-blocking.

Enter Spain, who has started 66 games at left guard and who has established a reputation of being a strong pass blocker. Though the 29-year-old lost his starting job with Buffalo this year, the Bills did think highly enough of him to give him a three-year, $15MM deal this offseason. Though he may not be a top-tier protector, he would certainly be a welcome addition to the Bengals’ offensive front.

Second-year pro Michael Jordan has played every snap for the club at LG thus far, but he has struggled, particularly in pass-blocking.

More On Buccaneers, Antonio Brown

October 25th, 2020 at 12:00pm CST by Rory Parks

Details are in on Antonio Brown‘s contract with the Buccaneers. His one-year pact will be worth up to $2.5MM, but only $1MM of that is in the form of base salary and roster bonuses. If Tampa wins the Super Bowl, AB will receive a $750K bonus, and he has three separate $250K bonuses for receptions, yards, and TD milestones. However, not only does Brown need to hit those individual marks to cash in, the Bucs need to qualify for the playoffs (Twitter links via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com).

Schefter adds (via Twitter) that Brown will officially sign the contract tomorrow. As Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets, the 32-year-old receiver will be able to enter the team facility Wednesday, after he has cleared COVID-19 testing. Although his eight-game suspension means that he will not be permitted to practice until November 3, the start of Week 9, Brown can attend meetings and train with the team’s strength and conditioning staff.

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reiterates that Tom Brady was the driving force behind the Brown signing. Brady, of course, pushed for the Patriots to acquire Brown last year, and though New England released AB after just one game, Brady again lobbied the team to re-sign him in advance of the playoffs.

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians — who is familiar with Brown from their time together in Pittsburgh — had repeatedly stated that Tampa would not be acquiring the mercurial All-Pro, and he wasn’t the only team official to express those sentiments. Brady eventually got his way, though plenty are skeptical that Brown will be able to toe the line.

“Mark my words, it’s going to be a problem,” said one executive who has significant experience with Brown. “You have no idea the stories we could tell you about this guy. Everything is a struggle. … There were plenty of valid reasons why [Arians] didn’t want anything to do with him a year ago. Unless this guy has completely reinvented himself, and done a complete turnaround, this is going to get ugly.”

A coach who has worked with Brown said, “All the reasons [Arians] didn’t want this guy a year ago, he knows what’s up with him. And that was before COVID. The stuff he’d do all the time in Pittsburgh — he’d go AWOL, not show up, have no idea where he is … that could (mess up) the entire team, now.”

It does seem like a big gamble for a team that has plenty of receiving talent already, though since the Bucs’ cadre of pass catchers has dealt with a number of injuries this year, it’s easy to see why the club would have interest in reinforcing that group. But from a legal perspective, Brown is not out of the woods just yet. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reminds us, the civil suit that Britney Taylor filed against Brown for sexual assault and rape is set for December, and Brown is due to furnish Taylor’s attorney with complete discovery next week (Brown has received multiple extensions of the discovery deadline).

Developments in that case may trigger additional sanctions from the league, though Brown’s attorneys could request a postponement of an trial in an effort to avoid such sanctions impacting his availability for the Bucs this year.

Trade Rumors: Giants, Ryan, Fuller

October 25th, 2020 at 11:07am CST by Rory Parks

After dealing Markus Golden to the Cardinals, it appears the 1-6 Giants have officially declared themselves sellers at this year’s trade deadline. Though GM Dave Gettleman may be reluctant to trade away veteran talent that could theoretically help Big Blue win a few games — and perhaps save Gettleman’s job in the process — players like Evan Engram, Kevin Zeitler, and Golden Tate could be available, as Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post writes (though Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says the club is unlikely to deal Engram).

2017 second-round DT Dalvin Tomlinson could also be on the move, per Dunleavy. Tomlinson is playing out the last year of his rookie contract, and while he has expressed interest in staying with the Giants long-term, there has been little progress in contract talks.

As we creep closer to the November 3 deadline, let’s round up a few more trade rumors from around the league:

Jimmy Garoppolo’s Future With 49ers In Doubt?

October 25th, 2020 at 10:12am CST by Rory Parks

The 49ers have been ravaged by injury this year, but they’re hanging tough at 3-3. Though that mark presently has them in last place in the talented NFC West, the addition of a seventh playoff spot for each conference means that San Francisco is still very much in postseason contention.

Like so many of his teammates, starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was bitten by the injury bug this season, as a high ankle sprain forced him to miss two games and clearly impacted him in an embarrassing Week 5 loss to the Dolphins. Though Jimmy G did play well in last week’s victory over the Rams, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says the signal-caller’s future with the Niners is in doubt.

After San Francisco traded for Garoppolo partway through the 2017 campaign, the former Patriots’ second-rounder posted a 5-0 record and landed a five-year, $137.5MM contract the following offseason. But a torn ACL wiped out most of his 2018 season, and though he led his team to a Super Bowl appearance last year, questions about his consistency have persisted.

All of his guarantees will have been paid out by the end of the year, so if the 49ers look to move on, they will be able to save about $24.1MM against the cap. Of course, they would need to earmark at least some of that money for another signal-caller, but HC Kyle Shanahan believes he can win with any number of options under center.

One league source who has worked with Shanahan said, “Kyle thinks he can turn almost anyone into a star. He’s had a lot of success with a lot of different guys and the salary structure on that team has changed dramatically the last few years. He’s not a guy who thinks he needs a $30 million a year QB to win. And they aren’t exactly gushing about the guy that they have now.”

“It’s wait and see,” another source with knowledge of the situation said. “[Garoppolo is] still under evaluation. It could go in a few different directions, and is it possible he’s not the guy next year? That’s fair. I don’t think that’s lost on anybody.”

La Canfora names Matt Ryan and Kirk Cousins as potential replacements if the team chooses to go in a different direction, though Cousins in particular would seem to be be a downgrade from Garoppolo. However, many executives expect the QB market to be active again in 2021, and Shanahan and GM John Lynch may be active in that market. If they really want to save money in a year when the salary cap is expected to decrease, they could trade Garoppolo and find their next signal-caller in the draft.

Bengals Looking To Trade Carlos Dunlap

October 25th, 2020 at 9:31am CST by Rory Parks

This won’t come as much of a surprise given the tension between player and team, but the Bengals have had active trade talks surrounding defensive end Carlos Dunlap, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com writes. In fact, Dunlap may be deactivated for this afternoon’s game against the Browns so that he doesn’t suffer an injury that would scuttle a potential deal.

Dunlap started Cincinnati’s first four games of the season and played in 75% of the team’s snaps in its Week 4 win over the Jaguars. But he did not start in the Bengals’ Week 5 loss to the Ravens — the first time in years he had not started a game — and he ultimately played in just 46% of the defensive snaps.

The 31-year-old took issue with the fact that head coach Zac Taylor did not talk to him personally about his demotion, and he recently posted the Bengals’ edge rotations on social media, saying “I don’t got time for this” (via Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic on Twitter). With Cincinnati in rebuild mode, it would not be surprising to see them move on from their unhappy pass rusher.

Of course, plenty of pundits and executives believed the Bengals should have been sellers at last year’s trade deadline, but the team elected to stand pat and did not make any moves to add to its draft capital. Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports that Cincinnati may do the same this year, with one NFC executive saying the team’s asking prices on its veteran trade candidates are too high.

Jones’ CBS Sports colleague, Jason La Canfora, is also hearing from rival execs that the Bengals’ have unrealistic demands, though there is a sense that a trade is likelier to get done this year than it was last year. Dunlap, as Rapoport suggests, may have already played his last snap as a Bengal, but RapSheet says Geno Atkins and A.J. Green are probably not going anywhere.

Jags Could Bench QB Gardner Minshew

October 25th, 2020 at 8:57am CST by Rory Parks

Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew has generally been a fun player to follow since he entered the league as an unheralded sixth-round pick in last year’s draft. He was surprisingly thrust into action in Week 1 of the 2019 season, and in 14 games, he threw for 21 TDs against just six interceptions and a 91.2 passer rating. Though there were some concerns, including 13 fumbles, he acquitted himself about as well as a sixth-round rookie could.

And when Jacksonville traded Nick Foles this offseason, it paved the way for Minshew to become the unquestioned starter in 2020. But after he led his team to a Week 1 win over the Colts, Minshew’s play has fallen off. His raw statistics look decent enough — he’s completed 67.5% of his passes for 11 TDs and five interceptions, good for a 94.1 QB rating — but much of his production has come with the Jaguars trailing.

Fumbling continues to be an issue, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com suggests that Jacksonville could bench Minshew, perhaps as soon as this afternoon’s game against the Chargers. Current backup signal-caller Mike Glennon would get the nod if that happens.

Since the 1-5 Jags are clearly not going to contend for a playoff spot — and since the soon-to-be 31-year-old Glennon is hardly the long-term answer — it would make sense for them to at least see more of Minshew before reevaluating their QB situation this offseason. But perhaps the club believes it has a good idea of what Minshew can do at this point and wants to see what it has in rookie Jake Luton, whom the team selected in the sixth round of this year’s draft.

Indeed, Rapoport says that if Jacksonville turns to Glennon today, it will then use its bye next week to determine how it wants to move forward. That would seem to be the ideal time to give Luton, a strong-armed passer from Oregon State, his shot to be this year’s Minshew.

Baker Mayfield’s Job Not In Jeopardy

October 25th, 2020 at 8:29am CST by Rory Parks

Browns QB Baker Mayfield‘s inconsistent play this season, combined with his disappointing sophomore campaign in 2019, has led to plenty of speculation that the former No. 1 overall pick could be benched in favor of backup Case Keenum. However, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com says that’s not going to happen.

Per Cabot, Mayfield will get the final 10 games of the season to prove himself. Though she does add that he may not keep his job if he continues to throw a high number of interceptions, the Browns are still high on Mayfield and believe his performance will improve.

Mayfield obviously offers far more upside than Keenum, and Cleveland has far more invested in the third-year passer, so the decision is not an especially difficult one. Still, the fact that Mayfield has played well against poor defenses in 2020 and has struggled mightily against the better teams is cause for concern. He did play through sore ribs in last week’s blowout loss to the Steelers and had only one full day of practice leading up to the game, so perhaps there is reason for optimism moving forward.

After all, the 4-2 Browns have the easiest remaining schedule in the NFL, and after they battle the Bengals this afternoon, they will have a bye next week. At that point, Mayfield should be completely healthy and ready to lead a talented offense towards a playoff berth.

If he does play well down the stretch, Cabot says Cleveland will certainly pick up his fifth-year option, though the team’s evaluation may be made more difficult by the relatively low level of competition that Mayfield will be facing. If he does not play well, or if he continues to be hit-or-miss, new GM Andrew Berry will have a very tough call to make.

Raiders Remove 4 O-Linemen From Reserve/COVID-19 List

October 25th, 2020 at 7:45am CST by Sam Robinson

Oct 25: Saturday’s COVID-19 tests for Miller, Good, Hudson, and Jackson came back negative, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter). All four will be available for the Raiders’ battle with the Bucs this afternoon.

Oct. 24: As of Saturday afternoon, the NFL has avoided another major schedule issue. Sunday afternoon’s Raiders-Buccaneers game is a go, and the hosts could well be better equipped to pull an upset.

The Raiders removed offensive linemen Kolton Miller, Denzelle Good, Rodney Hudson and Gabe Jackson from their reserve/COVID-19 list Saturday. The team had placed its other four starting O-linemen on the list because they were deemed high-risk close contacts of Trent Brown, who tested positive for the coronavirus this week.

Brown will miss Sunday’s game, but his blocking mates are on track to play. However, they will not be officially cleared to do so until their Saturday coronavirus tests come back clean, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. The team will obtain that information Sunday. Its four non-Brown O-line starters receiving clearance will certainly help Las Vegas’ cause against a Tampa Bay defense ranked first in DVOA through six games.

Recently signed defensive lineman David Irving is also set to make his Raiders debut. Reinstated from an 18-plus-month suspension just last week, Irving signed with the Raiders as a practice squad player. The Raiders will see what the former Cowboys starter can do beginning Sunday. Irving, 27, has not played since the 2018 season, when he saw action in only two games, and has been suspended four times by the NFL. In 2017, however, the interior pass rusher notched seven sacks in just eight games (all starts).

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