49ers Trade Kwon Alexander To Saints
The 49ers have agreed to trade linebacker Kwon Alexander to the Saints, as ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. In exchange, the Saints will send fellow ‘backer Kiko Alonso and a conditional fifth-round pick to San Francisco. 
Alexander, 26, has three seasons left on his four-year, $54MM deal. The off-ball ‘backer is remarkably tough – he suffered a torn pectoral muscle in November and somehow managed to return for the Niners’ playoff run. Alexander also battled a biceps injury that required surgery in February. These maladies emerged after he missed much of the 2018 season with an ACL tear.
Those issues predictably dropped his trade value, preventing SF from offloading him over the summer. Now, they’ve found a deal for him, though it mostly amounts to a contract dump.
It’s not too often that you see two guys at the same position swapped. Alexander has once again been banged up in 2020 as he’s missed the past two games with an ankle injury, although that doesn’t seem like anything too long-term.
New Orleans has an elite defensive front but their linebacking group has left a bit to be desired, so this move makes plenty of sense. They lost A.J. Klein in free agency, and offseason acquisition Nigel Bradham didn’t pan out as he was cut before the season began. Alexander has graded out solidly from Pro Football Focus, but not at the level he was playing last year. Demario Davis is locked into his role at inside linebacker for the Saints, so Alexander could cut into Alex Anzalone‘s role.
The 49ers get some salary relief, the draft pick, and a player in Alonso who stared at least 15 games for Miami from 2016-18. Alonso was placed on the reserve/PUP list at the beginning of the year and missed the first six games. New Orleans then activated him, but he has yet to appear in a game this season. These teams play each other in just a couple of weeks, so both players will get their chance at revenge.
Packers’ A.J. Dillon Tests Positive For COVID-19
On Monday morning, the Packers announced that one of their players has tested positive for the coronavirus. That player is running back A.J. Dillon, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter).
[RELATED: Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey Tests Positive For COVID-19]
With that, the Packers’ Thursday night game against the 49ers is now in jeopardy. Dillon has been in especially close proximity with the team’s other RBs, heightening the odds of potential transmission. In any event, Dillon will be a no-go for this week.
Dillon played on ten offensive snaps and seven special teams snaps against the Vikings on Sunday. The hope is that there was no viral spread during his limited usage.
The league tests its players on Sunday morning before each game, but the results do not come in until Sunday night or Monday morning. Similar to the situation with the Ravens and star cornerback Marlon Humphrey, the team did not have knowledge of Dillon’s test results until after the game was played.
The Packers selected Dillon with the No. 62 overall pick in this year’s draft. Once projected to play linebacker at Boston College, he’s a promising talent as a power RB. So far this year, he’s averaging 4.2 yards per carry on a limited sample of 23 totes.
Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey Tests Positive For COVID-19
Ravens star cornerback Marlon Humphrey has tested positive for COVID-19. Humphrey played all 53 defensive snaps in Sunday’s loss to the Steelers, so the league will be closely monitoring test results from both teams in the coming days.
“I got the Rona hopefully I’ll be back healthy soon,” Humphrey tweeted.
Humphrey, the No. 16 overall pick in the 2017 draft, inked a five-year, $98.75MM extension with the Ravens earlier this month. He’s one of the best young corners in the NFL, and the Ravens will have to get by without him for at least a little while.
Humphrey only just turned 24 over the summer. Last year, he started nearly every game for the Ravens last year en route to his first career Pro Bowl selection and first ever First-Team All-Pro nod. Along the way, he notched three interceptions, recovered three fumbles, returned two of them for touchdowns. In the interest of equal time: the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus ranked him as the 37th best cornerback in the NFL; solid standing, though most evaluators and fans would probably rank him higher.
Through seven games this year, Humphrey has 40 total stops, one interception, five passes defensed, and a league-leading four forced fumbles. Barring a “false positive,” he’ll be out for this Sunday’s game against the Colts, at minimum.
Dolphins Set High Asking Price For Xavien Howard
The Dolphins have received at least one trade inquiry on cornerback Xavien Howard, but it would take a “Laremy Tunsil type” offer to get a deal done, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. This jibes with previous reports we’ve heard — the Dolphins may be willing to listen, but they want a serious haul for the fifth-year star.
The Tunsil deal saw the standout left tackle and wide receiver Kenny Stills shipped to the Texans last year in exchange for two first-round draft picks, a second-round choice, and more. While Howard holds significant value, Tunsil was a special case. There’s a dearth of quality talent at the left tackle position, and teams were willing to pay a fortune for Tunsil.
The Dolphins extended Howard in April of last year, giving him a $15MM/year deal that runs through 2024. There’s no guaranteed money after this year, so the Dolphins could theoretically trade him today and absorb a modest $4.1MM cap hit. The 27-year-old is due base salaries of $12.1MM and $12.4MM in 2021 and ’22 before a slight drop to $12MM in ’23 and ’24.
Howard, who missed 11 games last season, led the NFL with seven interceptions in 2018 and already has 16 picks in his four-plus-season career. In that span, only Titans safety Kevin Byard has more INTs. So far this year, he’s tied for the NFL lead with four INTs (with Kendall Fuller of WFT and J.C. Jackson of the Patriots).
Chargers Shopping Desmond King
The Chargers are shopping former All-Pro defensive back and punt returner Desmond King, according to sources who spoke with ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Multiple teams have inquired on King, setting the stage for a possible trade between now and the Tuesday afternoon deadline.
King, 26 in December, was a healthy scratch for Sunday’s game against the Broncos, fueling speculation that he could be on the move. The former fifth-round pick earned First-Team All-Pro honors in 2018 after notching 62 stops, three interceptions (including one pick-six), and ten passes defensed. This year, he hasn’t made the same kind of impact for the Chargers’ secondary, despite the opportunity created by injuries to Derwin James and others.
King would represent an intriguing and affordable pickup for contenders. Some have speculated that the Cardinals could make a move for him, giving them another key piece in the secondary for this year and a quality cornerback beyond 2020. Arizona may part ways with Patrick Peterson after this season, so King would give them a quality safety net who could also contribute on special teams.
After Sunday’s 31-30 loss to the Broncos, the Chargers find themselves in the AFC West cellar at 2-5.
Washington Open To Trading Dwayne Haskins
The Washington Football Team is willing to listen on offers for Dwayne Haskins, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (on Twitter). Of course, that doesn’t come as a huge surprise following Haskins’ benching. 
Haskins, the No. 15 overall pick of the 2019 draft, was demoted from franchise quarterback to the team’s QB3, behind Kyle Allen and Alex Smith. The relationship between Haskins and head coach Ron Rivera has reportedly turned toxic and a fresh start would probably please both sides.
“What they’ll tell you in that building is that [Haskins] is a project who was drafted by the owner and his son,” according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking. “That’s the bottom line there. Allen is their guy. They think he fits their system. They didn’t really want anything to do with Haskins from the beginning.”
Haskins completed just 61% of his passes with four touchdowns against three INTs before he was benched. He had a similarly trying rookie year, with a 58.6% completion rate, seven TDs, and seven INTs across nine games (seven starts).
In Haskins’ defense, Washington’s O-Line didn’t do him any favors in 2020. He also has an affordable contract — he’s owed just $5MM for the remainder of his rookie deal. According to one report, Haskins could be had for anything above a sixth-round pick. If the asking price is really that low, Washington should be able to find a taker for the QB between now and the deadline.
Ravens LT Ronnie Stanley Done For Season
The Ravens fell two games behind the Steelers in the AFC North with their loss Sunday, and they got some even worse news immediately after the game. Head coach John Harbaugh announced to reporters that left tackle Ronnie Stanley would miss the rest of the season with a “severe ankle injury.” The official diagnosis: A fractured and dislocated ankle that also likely includes torn ligaments (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Although he faces a long road to recovery, Stanley is expected to be back and ready in time for the 2021 season. 
It’s an especially brutal blow for a team that has built its identity around dominating in the trenches. Stanley had been pretty durable up to this point, starting at least 14 games each of the past three seasons. Fortunately for Stanley he wrapped up his long-term financial security just in the nick of time, as he signed a five-year, $99 million extension only a couple of days ago. If it had to happen, at least he got paid first.
The Notre Dame product was drafted sixth overall back in 2016, and the high draft pick has panned out for Baltimore. He was outstanding last season, earning first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections. When Stanley went down 2018 third-rounder Orlando Brown Jr. slid over from right tackle to left, with veteran D.J. Fluker taking over from Brown.
Presumably that’ll be the situation moving forward, with Brown manning Lamar Jackson‘s blindside. Stanley is only 26, and should still just be entering the prime of his career. Even assuming it’s a bad fracture with his ankle, there’s no reason to believe he won’t be 100 percent by the time the 2021 season rolls around.
Jets Trade Avery Williamson To Steelers
With a couple of days left until the deadline, we’ve got news of another major trade to pass along. The Jets are going to trade linebacker Avery Williamson to the Steelers.
Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News was the first to tweet that a deal was in the works, and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network quickly confirmed that the trade was in fact happening (Twitter link). Pittsburgh will send New York a 2022 fifth-rounder and get back a 2022 seventh-rounder, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Williamson will provide needed reinforcements at inside linebacker after the Steelers just lost stud Devin Bush for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
Pittsburgh is the last undefeated team in the league and they’re looking like legit Super Bowl contenders, so it’s not surprising that they’re being aggressive. It makes plenty of sense for the 0-8 Jets as well, as New York is looking to sell off veteran assets in exchange for whatever draft capital they can get.
A fifth-round pick of the Titans back in 2014, Williamson signed a three-year, $22.5MM pact with the Jets in the 2018 offseason. He started all 16 games for New York that year, racking up a whopping 120 tackles, before missing all of last season with a torn ACL. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this offseason and with Bush coming back in 2021, this will likely be a short-term rental.
The Jets have already shipped out Steve McLendon and Jordan Willis, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see things devolve into a full-blown fire sale in the next couple of days.
Saints’ Sheldon Rankins To Miss A Few Weeks
Sheldon Rankins is hitting the shelf again. The Saints’ defensive tackle suffered an MCL injury during Sunday’s win over the Bears, a source tells Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football (Twitter link).
The source told Underhill it’s expected to knock the run-stuffer out for “about three weeks.” It’s a big blow to a New Orleans defensive front that is usually elite at stopping the run. The 12th overall pick of the 2016 draft, Rankins has developed into a quality starter for the Saints. This is unfortunately his third straight year with a significant injury, as first he tore an Achilles during the 2018 playoffs.
He missed the first few games of the 2019 season while recovering from that, then missed the last few with an ankle injury. His best season was that 2018 campaign when he also made a lot of noise as a pass-rusher, notching eight sacks from the interior.
The Louisville product is playing out the exercised fifth-year option on his rookie contract, and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.
Latest On Dolphins’ Decision To Start Tua Tagovailoa
The Dolphins started the Tua Tagovailoa era off with a bang, upsetting the Rams 28-17. While Tagovailoa wasn’t asked to do much thanks to a dominant day from Miami’s defense and finished with only 93 yards, Brian Flores‘ decision to bench Ryan Fitzpatrick for the rookie certainly didn’t backfire.
Speaking of that decision, we now have some more details on the Dolphins’ thought process. The fact that Miami owns the Texans’ first and second-round draft picks next April played a role, sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. With the way Houston is circling the drain at 1-6, those picks figure to be very high. Apparently the Dolphins wanted to make sure they got an extra long look at Tagovailoa just in case they’re in position to take a top quarterback in the 2021 draft.
That reporting would seem to indicate that if Tagovailoa flops down the stretch, Miami very easily could draft another signal-caller next year. Unless the Texans finish with the first overall pick they likely won’t be able to get Trevor Lawrence, but Ohio State’s Justin Fields would be a very real possibility. The Dolphins of course just drafted Tagovailoa with the fifth pick this past year, but the situation certainly wouldn’t be unprecedented after the Cardinals just jettisoned Josh Rosen after only one year to draft Kyler Murray.
The Dolphins own those picks from the trade of left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Owners can often get trigger happy with a desire to satisfy fans and play the more exciting option, but despite some speculation to the contrary Dolphins owner Stephen Ross played no role in the decision to move to Tagovailoa, a source told Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald.
This wasn’t a spontaneous decision either, as Salguero writes that Flores and general manager Chris Grier had already made the plan for the bye-week switch before the team’s win over the Jets in Week 6. Next up for Miami is a date with the Cardinals for Tagovailoa’s first career road start.