Cardinals’ Chandler Jones Done For Year
Cardinals linebacker Chandler Jones is done for the year, according to head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Jones was hoping to avoid it, but he’s now set to undergo season-ending biceps surgery. 
Jones, 30, managed 19 sacks in 2019 and led the league with eight forced fumbles. A first-round pick of the Patriots back in 2012, Jones hasn’t missed a game since joining the Cardinals in 2016. Before the injury, Jones started a perfect 69 games in a row. That streak is now over — ditto for his run of four straight seasons with at least eleven sacks.
Arizona is above .500 and in the thick of the NFC playoff hunt, but two of their three wins have come against the likes of the Washington Football Team and the Jets. They’ve looked bad in their two losses to the Lions and Panthers, and reserves like Jordan Phillips won’t be able to replace Jones’ production.
Jones was hoping to start extension talks with the Cardinals sometime soon, but those discussions will be tabled for a while. The veteran, 31 in February, is under contract for 2021 with a $15.5MM base salary.
The Cardinals – sans Jones – will face the Cowboys on Monday night.
Jets Release Le’Veon Bell
The Jets announced that they will release Le’Veon Bell from his contract on Tuesday night. The release is now official, and the former All-Pro running back is free to sign with any team. 
“After having conversations with Le’Veon and his agent and exploring potential trade options over the past couple of days, we have made the decision to release Le’Veon,” the team said in a Tuesday night statement. “The Jets organization appreciates Le’Veon’s efforts during his time here and we know he worked hard to make significant contributions to this team. We believe this decision is in the best interests of both parties and wish him future success.”
The Jets signed Bell to a four-year, $52.5MM free agent deal in the 2019 offseason. A few months later, they fired GM Mike Maccagnan. Then, before the trade deadline in October, new GM Joe Douglas attempted to trade him. There were no viable deals then, and there were no takers this time around. The Jets were willing to eat some of the $6MM left on this year’s base salary, but teams were warded off by Bell’s $8MM injury guarantee, plus a number of other red flags.
Last year, Bell averaged a career-low 3.2 yards per carry. Gase and Bell butted heads throughout the season, which saw the multiple-time Pro Bowler put up the worst numbers of his career. Bell ran for just 789 yards and three touchdowns on 229 carries – that comes out to just 3.3 yards per tote, a sharp contrast from his best work in Pittsburgh, which included back-to-back 4.9-yard averages. His 66 catches for 461 yards and one score weren’t too shabby, but that’s still a notch or two below expectations. With the Steelers, Bell averaged 8.5 yards per reception and averaged 80 grabs in each of his final two seasons with his former team. Soon, Bell will have an opportunity to start fresh with his third pro team.
AFC North Notes: Bengals, JuJu, Ravens
The Bengals may be beginning the process of moving away from their all-time sack leader. For the first time since the 2012 season, Carlos Dunlap did not start. Cincinnati used younger defensive ends Sam Hubbard and Carl Lawson as its first-stringers in Baltimore, playing Dunlap on a season-low 46% of the defensive snaps. Dunlap, who signed an extension to stay in Cincinnati in 2018, said the Bengals did not inform him directly about a demotion ahead of the game but merely listed his new non-starter status on an updated depth chart.
“That’s crazy, right? I mean, you would think common decency would be something like that,” Dunlap said (via ESPN.com’s Ben Baby) of the coaching staff not discussing his new role beforehand. “I mean, it’s not like I’m injured or anything. I’m not nursing anything. I’ve been blessed. Eleven years in the game. But I understand business, and evidently, this is the business they want to do.”
Dunlap now looms as a 2021 cap casualty. The Bengals would save $11.25MM by cutting him next year, and Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic (subscription required) expects a release to commence. He could be a trade chip this year, with the rebuilding Bengals sitting last in a stacked division. Dunlap, 31, is due more than $5MM in remaining 2020 base salary. Dunlap’s 82.5 sacks are seven more than anyone else has accumulated in Bengals history, but Pro Football Focus rates both Lawson and Hubbard above him through five games.
Here is the latest from the AFC North:
- Dunlap will not be the only longtime Bengal out of the picture next year. The team spending $18MM-plus to tag A.J. Green has not worked out, and John Ross has been a healthy scratch the past three weeks. Perennial Pro Bowl defensive tackle Geno Atkins made his season debut last week, but Dehner notes in the same piece the $9.6MM the team could save by moving on him puts that on the table. Atkins’ 75.5 sacks are second in Bengals history, holding that spot by more than 25 sacks. A fellow 11th-year vet, Atkins signed an extension along with Dunlap in 2018. Two years remain on his deal, whereas 2021 would be a Dunlap contract year.
- On the subject of big-picture separations, the Steelers will have a decision to make fairly soon. They appear to have unearthed their latest Day 2 wide receiver success story, with Chase Claypool dominating the Eagles in a four-touchdown performance. With Claypool signed through 2023 and both Diontae Johnson and James Washington signed beyond this season, JuJu Smith-Schuster‘s future with the team could be cloudy. The Steelers should be expected to let the former Pro Bowler walk in free agency, per Ed Bouchette of The Athletic. Art Rooney II was vague on this subject this offseason. Ahead of the curve at identifying receiver talent, the Steelers have only signed Hines Ward and Antonio Brown to notable extensions in the Ben Roethlisberger era. Smith-Schuster is averaging just 9.0 yards per catch this season (21/188). That said, his 1,400-yard 2018 season would make the 23-year-old slot receiver a hot commodity on the 2021 market.
- Although injured reserve stays only require three-week absences this season, the Bengals are not planning on having one of their starting O-linemen back soon. Guard Xavier Su’a-Filo is not expected to return until after Cincinnati’s Week 9 bye. Zac Taylor said the veteran blocker may be out beyond that point, per Dehner (on Twitter). The Bengals signed Su’a-Filo this offseason and used him as a Week 1 starter but placed him on IR because of an injured ankle soon after.
- Prior to the Ravens promoting center Trystan Colon-Castillo, multiple teams expressed interest in poaching him from Baltimore’s practice squad, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic tweets. The Ravens signed the University of Missouri product as a UDFA this year; they made him a game-day inactive in Week 5.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/13/20
Here are Tuesday’s practice squad moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: LB James Burgess
Denver Broncos
- Signed: DB Chris Cooper
Detroit Lions
- Signed: WR Victor Bolden
- Released: RB Tavien Feaster
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: WR Kalija Lipscomb
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: DT Eric Banks
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: DE Eddie Yarbrough
Seattle Seahawks
- Released: LB Tim Williams
Jets Place WR Chris Hogan On IR
Add Chris Hogan to the list of absent Jets wide receivers. The team is placing Hogan on injured reserve due to a recent high ankle sprain the veteran AFC East target suffered, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.
Hogan, 32, has played in each of the Jets’ five games this season. He played in Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals despite being questionable with knee and rib injuries. But an ankle malady will pause Hogan’s season. Although it likely will not end Hogan’s ninth NFL slate, it represents the latest in a string of issues for Gang Green’s receiving corps.
The Jets, who were without No. 1 wideout Jamison Crowder for two weeks with a hamstring injury, have been without second-round rookie Denzel Mims all season. They are currently without Breshad Perriman, who has not played since Week 2 because of an ankle injury. Vyncint Smith is also on IR.
The Jets signed Hogan in August, doing so after Mims went down with the injury that has delayed his NFL debut. A former Bills and Patriots wideout, Hogan has 14 receptions for 118 yards this season. He spent the 2019 season with the Panthers. An IR stay shortened his Carolina season to seven games.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/13/20
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves. While the Titans are moving some players off their reserve/COVID-19 list, other teams have placed players on their respective coronavirus lists.
Atlanta Falcons
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DT Marlon Davidson; the rookie defensive lineman tested positive for the coronavirus, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com tweets.
- Promoted: CB Tyler Hall
Buffalo Bills
- Promoted: CB Dane Jackson, LB Andre Smith
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed off Browns’ practice squad: QB Garrett Gilbert
Green Bay Packers
- Placed on IR: TE Josiah Deguara, C Jake Hanson
Kansas City Chiefs
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: FB Anthony Sherman; the 10th-year veteran did not test positive for the coronavirus, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter).
Los Angeles Rams
- Promoted: S JuJu Hughes
- Placed on IR: S Jordan Fuller
Minnesota Vikings
- Waived: Hercules Mata’afa
New York Jets
- Promoted: CB Lamar Jackson
Philadelphia Eagles
- Waived: DB Grayland Arnold, DE Casey Toohill
San Francisco 49ers
- Claimed off waivers from Buccaneers: CB Parnell Motley
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Promoted: CB Ross Cockrell, LB Chapelle Russell
Tennessee Titans
- Activated off reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Kamalei Correa, CB Kristian Fulton
- Promoted: LB Darren Bates, WR Cody Hollister, CB Kareem Orr, OL David Quessenberry
Cardinals Sign CB Prince Amukamara To Practice Squad
Prince Amukamara is officially headed to the desert. We heard last week that the Cardinals were hoping to sign Amukamara once he cleared COVID-19 protocols, and now Dan Graziano of ESPN.com tweets that the deal is official. 
Interestingly, it’s a practice squad deal and he won’t be on the active roster initially. To make room on the practice squad Arizona released another veteran, receiver Jaron Brown. Amukamara was cut by the Bears back in February to clear cap space, then released by the Raiders shortly before the start of the regular season. Arizona has struggled in coverage at times and Amukamara has loads of starting experience, so this match makes some sense.
The Nebraska product has started 30 games over the past two seasons, and at 31 he should still have something left in the tank physically. The Cardinals of course have Patrick Peterson, but have struggled at corner outside of him.
The 19th overall pick of the 2011 draft, Amukamara will likely be on the active 53 before too long. The Giants were reportedly interested in bringing him back, but for whatever reason it didn’t work out. Brown was with the Cardinals from 2013-17, and has often showed flashes of promise as a deep threat during his career. With the Seahawks last season, he had 16 catches for 220 yards and two touchdowns. The year before that he had five scores with Seattle.
Giants Cut Damion Ratley, Promote Austin Mack
The Giants are shuffling around their receiving corp. They’re waiving receiver Damion Ratley and promoting receiver Austin Mack from the practice squad, the team announced Tuesday.
Ratley had actually been playing a fairly sizable role lately, especially after the injury to Sterling Shepard, so this is somewhat surprising. A sixth-round pick of the Browns in 2018, Ratley was waived by Cleveland at final cuts this year and claimed by the Giants the next day. He started a few games in each of his two years with the Browns, and had 200 yards and a touchdown last season.
So far with the Giants Ratley had played about 40 percent of the offensive snaps through five games, so that’s a decent amount of playing time that will now be available to Mack and others. He didn’t catch a pass this past week against the Giants, but had three receptions for 34 yards the week before against the Rams.
He’ll likely get a shot with someone else before too long. Mack is an undrafted rookie who signed with the Giants back in April and was added to the practice squad after final cuts. He’s an Ohio State product.
NFL Considering Postseason Bubble
As we’ve seen through the first handful of weeks of the 2020 season, handling COVID-19 outbreaks can be a logistical nightmare. Just this past week, one team forced the NFL to radically change up their schedule, switching up games and bye weeks for a handful of franchises.
The league obviously hopes to avoid that kind of chaos later in the season when it’s less easy to change things on the fly, and it appears they could look to the NBA for inspiration. The NFL is considering a playoff bubble, where playoff games would be played at predetermined neutral sites, sources told Lindsay Jones and Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic.
Los Angeles and Dallas are apparently two potential destinations, the sources indicated. One scenario apparently on the table is playing wild card games like normal, then moving into the bubble for the divisional and conference championship rounds, then moving on to Tampa Bay to play the Super Bowl as planned.
Don’t expect them to go full-blown bubble, as the sources said that the league isn’t giving any consideration to altering course and moving into an in-season bubble with all 32 teams. It’s an interesting proposition, and one that would make a lot of sense. If something like the Titans’ situation happened in the playoffs, with dozens of COVID-19 cases, it’s hard to imagine a sensible way to work around it.
Jones and Kaplan also make it seem like a Week 18 is inevitable at this point, with some games being pushed into early January. Once teams have already had their bye weeks it will be nearly impossible to move things around like they did this past week, and one source said it’s a matter of when, not if, there becomes a Week 18. Another source said they’ll likely only play Week 18 games that have playoff implications, so some teams could wind up playing only 15 regular season games.
Jets Looking To Trade Le’Veon Bell
Here we go again. With a couple weeks to go before the trade deadline, the Jets are shopping running back Le’Veon Bell, sources tell Manish Mehta of the Daily News (on Twitter). 
[RELATED: Could Jets Trade Sam Darnold?]
The Jets signed Bell to a four-year, $52.5MM free agent deal in 2019. Months later, they considered moving him. Bell claims the Packers, Chiefs, Texans, and Steelers (yes, the Steelers) all expressed interest in acquiring him before last year’s deadline but, ultimately, there were no takers.
It’s hard to imagine teams chomping at the bit for Bell. Last year, he averaged a career-low 3.2 yards per carry. So far this year, he’s played in just two of the Jets’ five games. For what it’s worth, he managed 4.62 yards per carry this past Sunday, but he’s come nowhere near matching his performance in Pittsburgh since joining Gang Green.
Between his two disappointing Jets campaigns and his 2018 holdout, Bell is three seasons removed from his best work. Meanwhile, he continues to clash with team brass. This week, he dished out social media likes to a number of followers who were criticizing Adam Gase for his limited usage of Bell.
“I know he’s frustrated that we haven’t won,” the head coach told reporters on Monday. “It wasn’t necessarily the plan of not targeting him in the past game, it just kind of ended up being that way with how they were they were playing us. So that’s what it is, I mean, just try to find ways to move the football that’s all we’re trying to do, and it doesn’t always go exactly as planned..I hate that’s the route that we go with all this. Instead of just talking to me about it but seems the way that guys want to do it nowadays.”
Bell will earn a guaranteed $8.5MM base salary for 2020. In the past, he’s rebuffed the Jets’ attempts to restructure his deal. But, if he truly wants a trade, he may have to reconsider his position.