Latest On Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence
Clemson star Trevor Lawrence says he’s still undecided on whether to enter the 2021 NFL Draft, as ESPN.com’s David M. Hale writes. Meanwhile, NFL executives tell ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter that they have no doubt about Lawrence’s future plans. 
“You have a better chance of winning the Boston Marathon than he does of going back to school,” one source told Schefter.
Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney recently expressed similar sentiments, admitting that he’d “be surprised” if Lawrence, the projected No. 1 pick, returns to campus next year. For his part, Lawrence says he isn’t interested in discussing his plans any further, noting that he wants to enjoy the rest of the year and focus on his return to the field.
Clemson managed to beat Boston College without Lawrence under center but they came up short in Saturday’s thriller against Notre Dame. The good news is that Lawrence is set to return after completing the NCAA’s COVID-19 protocol.
The Jets and Jaguars are keeping a watchful eye on Lawrence, who has been hailed as a generational talent.
“I’ve honestly never seen anything like him,” one NFL quarterbacks coach told Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller this week. “You’ve seen guys with a bigger arm, and you’ve seen guys who are faster, but I’ve never seen a prospect who has every trait you need and has them at a high level.”
Dolphins Place Preston Williams On IR
The Dolphins placed wide receiver Preston Williams on injured reserve with a foot injury. Previously, the Dolphins had Williams listed as day-to-day, but the issue is “more significant” than they initially believed, head coach Brian Flores says (Twitter link via Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald). 
Per this year’s modified IR rules, Williams will miss at least three games. Flores isn’t exactly sure when they’ll get the second-year pro back after his left foot twisted on a touchdown catch against the Cardinals. It’s also possible that Williams is dealing with a right foot injury suffered during the ensuing celebration with Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.
Williams broke out during his rookie season last year, catching 32 passes for 428 yards and three touchdowns in his first eight NFL games. He was on pace to become just the second first Dolphins rookie wideout to surpass 800 yards since Chris Chambers in 2001. That was up until he suffered a torn ACL, capping his first pro season in November. So far this year, Williams has registered 18 catches for 288 yards and four touchdowns.
Without Williams, the Dolphins will likely lean more on Mack Hollins and Jakeem Grant. They could also promote Antonio Callaway from the practice squad.
This Date In Transactions History: Cardinals QB Carson Palmer Signs Extension, Tears ACL
In one of the more unfortunate post-extension-signing performances in NFL history (we’re assuming, considering the specificity of that statement), Carson Palmer tore his ACL shortly after inking an extension six years ago. We know, we know…Palmer officially inked his new deal on November 7th, and he subsequently suffered the injury on November 9th. However, on November 10th, 2014, we learned of the quarterback’s official diagnosis (head coach Bruce Arians also acknowledged that Palmer was heading to the IR) and (in a cruel twist) the full details of the extension. So, for the sake of this series, we’ll say this qualifies.
The story really begins in 2013. Following a three-year stint with the Bengals and Raiders that saw him go 12-27, Palmer was traded to the Cardinals for a few late-round picks. The former first-overall pick overcome a tough start to the season and finished the campaign with a 7-2 record in his final nine contests. In total, Palmer completed 63.3-percent of his passes for 4,274 yards and 24 touchdowns.
Palmer looked like a potential MVP candidate during the early part of the 2014 season. He threw for 11 touchdowns vs. only three interceptions and won each of his six games as a starter, and that proved to be enough to warrant an extension from the Cardinals front office. So, on November 7th, 2014, Palmer inked a lucrative three-year, $49.5MM deal, including a bit more than $20M in guaranteed money.
You probably already know what happens next. A few days after inking his extension, Palmer suffered an ACL tear in a win over the Rams. With Drew Stanton inserted into the lineup, the Cardinals went 3-4 the rest of the way, and they lost to the Panthers in the first round of the playoffs.
Fortunately, the story has a somewhat happy ending. Palmer returned to appear in all 16 games in 2015, earning his first Pro Bowl nod in nine years and finishing tied for second (with Tom Brady, behind Cam Newton) in MVP voting. The veteran also set career-highs in passing yards (4,671) and touchdown passes (35) while leading the Cardinals to a 13-3 record. Palmer ended up having a brutal game in an NFC Championship loss that postseason, but it was still a remarkable comeback for the quarterback.
Palmer spent two more seasons with Arizona before hanging up his cleats in 2018. Ultimately, this proved to be a solid ending to a story that got temporarily sidetracked six years ago today.
AFC Rumors: Williams, Chiefs, OBJ, Patriots
Adam Gase insisted the Jets were not trading Quinnen Williams, but that did not stop teams from reaching out about a potential trade. The Jets received inquiries from multiple teams on their standout defensive tackle before last week’s trade deadline, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Although GM Joe Douglas was not with the team when the Jets selected Williams — during a draft in which Gase was not exactly in lock-step with previous GM Mike Maccagnan — the team views the ex-Alabama prospect’s talent and positional value to be too great to trade. After a less impactful rookie year, Williams has broken through as an NFL sophomore. He has three sacks and seven tackles for loss — already bettering his 2019 numbers.
Here is the latest from the AFC:
- The Chiefs‘ Andy Reid-era front office has undergone changes, thanks to the executive talent the organization has amassed. Ryan Poles may well be poised to follow Chris Ballard and Brett Veach to a GM job, with Field Yates of ESPN.com noting (via Twitter) the current Chiefs exec is firmly on the GM radar. The Chiefs have twice promoted Poles over the past three years, moving him to college scouting director in 2017 and to assistant player personnel director a year later. Should Poles land a GM job, the Chiefs would be entitled to third-round draft compensation.
- Odell Beckham Jr. underwent successful ACL surgery Tuesday, the Browns announced. The team expects OBJ to be ready for the 2021 season. It is not certain if the 28-year-old wideout will, in fact, be with the Browns for the ’21 campaign. His through-2023 contract contains no guaranteed money, and his star has certainly fallen since being dealt from New York to Cleveland. Beckham landed in trade rumors last year and this offseason, and rumblings have resurfaced about the Browns dealing the John Dorsey-era acquisition in 2021.
- When Sony Michel returns from IR, it is unlikely the third-year Patriots back will recapture his previous role. Damien Harris stood out in training camp and has played well since debuting. The 2019 third-round pick should not be expected to lose his lead role in New England’s backfield, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes. Harris did suffer a chest injury Monday, but it remains to be seen if the former Alabama back will miss any time. Harris is averaging 5.6 yards per carry this season. While Michel is at 6.7, that is on just 26 totes. The former first-round pick’s career YPC average sits at 4.2.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/10/20
Here are the NFL’s recent practice squad moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: Nate Brooks, T R.J. Prince
Carolina Panthers
- Activated from practice squad injured list: RB Reggie Bonnafon
- Signed: DT Woodrow Hamilton
- Released: K Taylor Bertolet, DT Mike Panasiuk
Chicago Bears
- Signed: OL Eric Kush, QB Kyle Sloter
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: CB Stephen Denmark, TE Kyle Markway, C Javon Patterson
- Released: C Evan Brown, T Timon Parris, CB Prince Smith
- Placed on practice squad injured list: WR Ryan Switzer
Denver Broncos
- Signed: TE Troy Fumagalli, C Jon Halapio
Detroit Lions
- Signed: TE Khari Lee
Houston Texans
- Signed: LB Curtis Bolton, LB Kendall Futrell
- Released: WR Devin Smith
- Placed on practice squad injured list: LB Davin Bellamy
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: WR Rico Gafford, S Rashaan Gaulden
Los Angeles Rams
- Released: C Cohl Cabral
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: CB Cordrea Tankersley
New England Patriots
- Signed: TE Dylan Cantrell, TE David Wells
- Released: DT Ryan Glasgow
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: DT Treyvon Hester
- Released: RB Adrian Killins
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: WR Chris Finke
Seattle Seahawks
- Released: DE DeMarkus Acy
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: DL Miles Brown, CB Greg Mabin, OL Daniel Munyer, K Giorgio Tavecchio
Ravens Sign CB Tramon Williams
Tramon Williams‘ Ravens visit last week will produce a deal, and the timing of the parties’ initial meeting will allow for the veteran cornerback to be in uniform Sunday night.
The longtime Packers defender signed with the Ravens on Tuesday. Williams visited the team six days ago and began taking COVID-19 tests, according to The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec (on Twitter). That will put him on track not only to be in uniform against the Patriots on Sunday but to begin practicing with his new team when the Ravens begin their Pats preparations Wednesday.
This will be Williams’ 14th NFL season. He spent 10 prior campaigns in Green Bay, working as a key Packer defender from 2007-14 and over the past two seasons — after stays in Cleveland and Arizona. Williams, 37, has started 153 career games — including 23 in his second Packers stint — and will reclaim his place as the league’s oldest active cornerback.
Baltimore remains without All-Pro Marlon Humphrey, who tested positive for the coronavirus. This affected the Ravens’ practices last week, with several defenders missing most or all of those workouts. The Ravens are planning ahead this week.
To make room on their 53-man roster, the Ravens placed cornerback Khalil Dorsey on IR.
NFL Owners Pass Two Proposals
The NFL’s owners passed two proposals with potential significant ramifications Tuesday, commissioner Roger Goodell announced.
In the event that regular season games with playoff implications are cancelled and the league can’t complete it’s schedule in 17 or 18 weeks, the NFL will add an additional playoff team in each conference to limit the chances a team is unfairly left out of the postseason due to COVID-19 cancellations. This is only a contingency plan, and the current plan is still to proceed with seven playoff teams in each conference. As you’ll recall, this is the first year the playoffs has been expanded to seven teams from six.
The proposal lays out a new seeding system based on winning percentage in the event that teams end up with different numbers of games played. You can read the full language of the proposal courtesy of this tweet from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The second measure to pass will reward teams for developing minority coaches and executives. If a team has a minority coach/exec that gets hired away to be a new team’s head coach or general manager, they’ll receive two third-round compensatory picks. The picks will come one at a time in consecutive years, not two in the same draft.
You can read the full language of that proposal via this tweet from Pelissero. The vote to pass the playoff contingency plan was unanimous, and it sounds like the minority coaching development reward was passed overwhelmingly as well. The original playoff plan would’ve reseeded the eight teams regardless of division winners, meaning the NFC East winner likely would’ve been the eighth seed, but that part was struck down.
As for other potential rule changes, this offseason there was talk of the NFL adopting new onside kick rules to make it easier for teams to come back, potentially replacing a kick with a 4th and 15 attempt for trailing teams. That ultimately didn’t come too close to passing, but Goodell said Tuesday the issues isn’t going away. “It is something we have thought, and many clubs have thought, would be an exciting addition to the game, and something I think merits a lot of discussion,” the commissioner said, via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/10/20
We’ve got a long list of all the minor transactions from the last day or so:
Arizona Cardinals
- Waived: CB De’Vante Bausby
Atlanta Falcons
- Promoted: LB Edmond Robinson
Chicago Bears
- Signed: DT Anthony Rush
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: Deon Bush, Lachavious Simmons
Cincinnati Bengals
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DL Margus Hunt
Denver Broncos
- Claimed off waivers from Cardinals: CB De’Vante Bausby
Detroit Lions
- Placed on IR: CB Tony McRae
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Jarrad Davis
Green Bay Packers
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: QB Jordan Love, LB Kamal Martin, RB Jamaal Williams
Houston Texans
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Dylan Cole, LB Whitney Mercilus, G Max Scharping
- Placed on IR: LB Kyle Emanuel, LB Brennan Scarlett
- Claimed off waivers from Washington: DE Nate Orchard
Indianapolis Colts
- Waived: DL Ron’Dell Carter
- Promoted: WR DeMichael Harris
Kansas City Chiefs
- Activated from reserve/PUP list: T Martinas Rankin
- Waived: DE Demone Harris
Los Angeles Rams
- Waived: LB Natrez Patrick
Minnesota Vikings
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Todd Davis
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: LS Austin Cutting
- Waived/failed-physical: LB Ben Gedeon
- Placed on IR: DB Holton Hill
New England Patriots
- Claimed off waivers from Cardinals: TE Jordan Thomas
- Waived: LB Cassh Maluia
- Placed on IR: TE Dalton Keene
New York Giants
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: G Will Hernandez
- Waived: CB Corey Ballentine
New York Jets
- Activated off NFI list: CB Bryce Hall
- Waived: QB Mike White
- Placed on IR: TE Trevon Wesco
San Francisco 49ers
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: WR Kendrick Bourne
Washington Football Team
- Promoted: WR Jeff Badet
- Waived: WR Tony Brown
Bears’ Roy Robertson-Harris Done For The Year
The Bears have slipped up the past few weeks with three straight losses as the offense has been unable to get going, and now their defense is taking a blow. Defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris will have season-ending shoulder surgery, sources told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
Robertson-Harris has started six of eight games so far this season, and usually plays around half the snaps as a run-stuffer. He’s also shown a bit as a pass-rusher the last couple years, notching 2.5 sacks last season and three the year before. An UDFA from UTEP back in 2016, he’s already carved out a nice career for himself. He missed his entire rookie season on the NFI list, but became an immediate contributor as a sophomore.
The team thought highly enough of him to place a second-round tender on the restricted free agent this past offseason to prevent teams from poaching him. That paid him a little over $3.2MM for this season. The big fella will hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent this March, and Rapoport writes that he’s headed toward a “nice payday in free agency.”
Jaguars Sign K Chase McLaughlin
The Jaguars have signed kicker Chase McLaughlin off the Vikings’ practice squad, per a club announcement. McLaughlin will take over for Josh Lambo, who is likely done for the year after aggravating a muscle injury.
[RELATED: Josh Lambo Likely Done For Year]
McLaughlin has the distinction of serving as the Jags’ sixth kicker of the season, following Lambo, Stephen Hauschka, Jon Brown, Brandon Wright, and Aldrick Rosas. The Jaguars didn’t see much of Lambo this year, though he did drill a franchise-record 59-yard field goal this past weekend. Meanwhile, the other four kickers combined to go just 5-9 on field goal tries.
Last year, Lambo led the NFL with a 97.1% field goal conversion rate. He also has two full seasons left on his four-year, $15MM deal, so McLaughlin is little more than a rental for the Jaguars. Still, McLaughlin is undoubtedly thrilled about the opportunity, since he hasn’t seen live action all year.
In 2019, McLaughlin connected on 18 of 23 field goal attempts across eleven games for the Colts, Chargers, and 49ers. He was 100% accurate on his nine of his attempts from inside the 40, he went 3-3 on FGs of 50+ yards, and he made all 26 of his XPs. Meanwhile, he struggled from 40-49 yards out (5 for 10).