HEADLINES

Month: September 2021

NFC West Rumors: Hicks, Higbee, 49ers

September 10th, 2021 at 10:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

One of two Cardinals linebackers mentioned in trade rumors this offseason, Jordan Hicks will join Chandler Jones in being with the team when it begins its season Sunday. The Cardinals gave Hicks permission to seek a trade in May, after drafting Zaven Collins in Round 1 and anointing him the starter alongside Isaiah Simmons. But nothing materialized. GM Steve Keim said Hicks, despite his demotion, will play “a strong role” on this year’s Arizona defense, via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. Citing Simmons’ positional flexibility, Keim said there will be times when Simmons, Collins and Hicks line up together. The Cards have devoted considerable resources to their off-ball linebacker spots, drafting Simmons and Collins in the first round — after taking Haason Reddick in the 2017 first round and slotting him off the ball for most of his run — and signing Hicks to a four-year, $36MM deal in 2019. Hicks accepted a $3MM salary cut in March, and the 32-game Cardinal starter’s workload will certainly be reduced from the 100% and 92% defensive snap rates of the past two seasons.

Here is the latest from the NFC West:

  • The Rams still reside near the bottom of the NFL in cap space, but they created some breathing room by restructuring Tyler Higbee‘s deal. The team added $1.65MM in space by moving some of Higbee’s base salary into a signing bonus, Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com tweets. Prior to this move, the franchise held less than $1MM in cap room. Higbee signed a four-year, $31MM extension in 2019. This week’s move dropped his 2021 base salary to just more than $1MM.
  • Josh Norman is set to play a 10th NFL season and do so with a fourth team, having signed with the 49ers this week. However, Norman’s camp and the 49ers discussed a deal for months, the veteran cornerback said Friday (via KNBR). Norman, 33, has played with Carolina, Washington and Buffalo. He will join a 49ers team that was already thin at cornerback before listing Emmanuel Moseley as doubtful for Week 1. San Francisco has injury-prone Jason Verrett stationed as its other top outside corner. Norman, who has not returned to a Pro Bowl since his standout 2015 contract year, played 344 defensive snaps with the Bills last season.
  • The 49ers will begin their season without one of their assistant coaches. Linebackers coach Johnny Holland recently stepped away from the team due to a battle with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com notes. This is the second time Holland has left the 49ers because of his cancer battle; he did so in 2019 after initially being diagnosed. The fifth-year 49ers assistant began treatment this week. Holland, 56, has been an NFL assistant for more than 20 years, beginning in 1995 with the Packers, for whom he played linebacker in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Holland has worked with Kyle Shanahan dating back to their days as Texans assistants in the 2000s.

49ers Restructure Jimmie Ward’s Deal

September 10th, 2021 at 9:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

Entering Friday at the bottom of the NFL in cap space, the 49ers moved back toward the middle of the pack with one move. They redid safety Jimmie Ward‘s deal, creating nearly $6MM in cap room, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

San Francisco carried less than $1MM in space, per OverTheCap, prior to this move. The team moved around $7.8MM of Ward’s 2021 salary into a bonus, creating approximately $5.85MM in cap room, per Yates. This slides the 49ers up to 16th in cap space going into Week 1.

This marks the first Ward restructure. The former first-round pick re-signed with the 49ers last year, doing so after a lengthy stretch without a long-term deal. Ward played out his rookie contract, which included a fifth-year option season, and re-signed to stay in San Francisco on a one-year deal in 2019. After Ward played a key role for the NFC champion 49ers defense that season, he received a three-year, $28.5MM offer. That deal initially called for an $8.4MM base salary this season. That number is now much lower.

While this move will raise Ward’s 2022 cap figure, it gives the 49ers some additional flexibility going into this season.

Saints Release S Jeff Heath

September 10th, 2021 at 7:52pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Saints did some roster rearranging Friday. In addition to placing Tre’Quan Smith and Ken Crawley on IR, the team released safety Jeff Heath.

It is possible Heath could be brought back on a team-friendlier deal, one lighter on guarantees, but that is not certain yet. Vested veterans’ salaries become guaranteed if they are on a Week 1 roster. The Saints signed Heath to a one-year deal worth $1.1MM.

New Orleans added the 30-year-old defender to its roster three weeks ago. But the former Cowboys and Raiders starter has made 59 career starts. In addition to starting responsibilities in Dallas and Las Vegas, Heath was on the field for more than half of his teams’ special teams plays in three of the past four years.

New Orleans returns starting safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Marcus Williams and has hybrid DBs Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and P.J. Williams behind them.

Cowboys’ Michael Gallup To Miss Time

September 10th, 2021 at 5:28pm CST by Sam Robinson

Michael Gallup‘s contract year is not starting well. The Cowboys will be without their fourth-year wideout for a stretch due to a calf strain, per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News.

The Cowboys’ passing attack did not slow down after Gallup left Thursday’s shootout in the second half, with Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb combining for 20 catches and 243 yards. This duo will be relied upon going forward, with Gehlken indicating Gallup is facing a three- to five-week absence. Mike McCarthy said Friday this will at least be a multiweek injury.

This is poised to be a pivotal year for Gallup, who may well be auditioning for other teams as a free agent-to-be. The Cowboys are not planning to negotiate with their 2022 free agents before this season ends, and Gallup and Cooper appear to be vying for one salary slot alongside Lamb on next year’s roster. Cooper’s five-year, $100MM contract becomes easier to shed in 2022, though Dallas’ high-priced receiver offered a strong performance to start his sixth NFL season.

Gallup broke through in 2019, totaling 66 catches for 1,107 yards and six touchdowns in just 14 games. With Dak Prescott missing much of last season, and Lamb having arrived as a first-round pick, Gallup took a slight step back (59/843/5 in 16 games). But a quality contract year will make the Colorado State alum an attractive option for receiver-needy teams next March, in the event the Cowboys decide to allocate resources elsewhere.

Dallas has some experience behind Gallup, in fourth-year cog Cedrick Wilson and fifth-year pass catcher Noah Brown. The latter is currently on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list. The Cowboys drafted Simi Fehoko in this year’s fifth round.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/10/21

September 10th, 2021 at 5:09pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: K Elliott Fry
  • Placed on practice squad IR: DL George Obinna

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

  • Released: OL Christian DiLauro

Colts, RB Nyheim Hines Agree On Extension

September 10th, 2021 at 4:17pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Colts continue to lock up cogs from their standout 2018 draft class. They added Nyheim Hines to the list Friday, signing the situational running back to an extension Friday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

Hines agreed to a three-year, $18.6MM deal with $12MM guaranteed, per Yates. A big chunk of that total — $10.3MM — is guaranteed at signing, USA Today’s Josina Anderson tweets. In a backfield with Jonathan Taylor and Marlon Mack, Hines is now the Colts’ highest-paid ball-carrier — by a significant margin. A former fourth-round pick, Hines was going into a contract year. The Colts now have the Taylor-Hines tandem locked up for at least three more seasons.

This deal comes after the Colts locked down 2018 second-rounders Darius Leonard and Braden Smith earlier this summer. The big fish from that draft haul (Quenton Nelson) remains unsigned, but given the work Indianapolis has done to retain the supporting-casters from that group, a monster Nelson extension in 2022 appears likely.

Indianapolis slotted Hines as a passing-down back during his rookie year and added return duties to his plate in 2019. The team has kept Hines in these roles since, and the elusive North Carolina State alum has become one of the league’s best off-the-bench backs. He caught 63 passes as a rookie and added a second 63-catch season in 2020, amassing a career-high 862 yards from scrimmage last year.

At $6.2MM per year, Hines checks in among the top 12 highest-paid backs. A sizable gulf between the eight-man group earning north of $12MM annually and the field has emerged. Among backs on veteran contracts, only Melvin Gordon makes between $6.5MM and $12MM per year. But Hines did quite well for himself, with his new deal surpassing Chargers starter Austin Ekeler‘s AAV, and is set to aid Carson Wentz‘s transition this season.

Saints Place WR Tre’Quan Smith, CB Ken Crawley On IR

September 10th, 2021 at 3:38pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jameis Winston‘s debut as the Saints’ starting quarterback will come without another of his top wide receivers. Tre’Quan Smith will begin the season on IR, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football tweets.

The Saints added Smith to their injury report Thursday, and the hamstring injury the fourth-year wideout has battled will shelve him for at least three games. Additionally, New Orleans placed veteran cornerback Ken Crawley on IR. Crawley is also dealing with a hamstring malady.

This injury has dogged Smith for several weeks. He has now tried and failed to come back from it twice. It caused the former third-round pick to miss extensive training camp time. It also comes, of course, at a key point for New Orleans’ passing attack, which will feature a new quarterback for the first time in 15 years. Michael Thomas‘ belated offseason ankle surgery will sideline him for at least the season’s first six games; the All-Pro is on the Saints’ reserve/PUP list.

Crawley represents key depth for a Saints team that has been undermanned at corner this year. The team traded for Bradley Roby earlier this week, however. That acquisition, pairing Roby with fellow ex-Ohio State standout Marshon Lattimore, looms larger now.

Thomas and Smith’s absences will leave Drew Brees‘ successor with a much lower-profile receiving corps. Although Marquez Callaway impressed throughout the Saints’ summer work, the team did not draft a wideout this year and has only return man Deonte Harris, third-year UDFA Lil’Jordan Humphrey and veteran Chris Hogan — who recently left the game to give lacrosse another try — at the position. Running back/wideout Ty Montgomery remains on New Orleans’ roster, and Kevin White resides on the team’s practice squad.

Lions Rule Out LT Taylor Decker

September 10th, 2021 at 3:12pm CST by Sam Robinson

Taylor Decker will miss Sunday’s Lions opener due to an injury he suffered in practice this week. The Lions ruled out their longtime left tackle for Sunday’s game against the 49ers.

The sixth-year blocker suffered a hand injury during Wednesday’s workout. The Lions have not placed Decker on IR, which would sideline him for the season’s first three games, but their line will be weakened in Week 1. Decker met with doctors Friday, Eric Woodyard of ESPN.com notes.

This setback appears set to slide No. 7 overall pick Penei Sewell to left tackle. The rookie was to transition to a right tackle role with the Lions, despite having lined up on the left side at Oregon, but the Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett notes Sewell has primarily worked as the team’s first-string left tackle in practice since Decker’s injury (Twitter link). The team is not planning a long-term switch, with Decker expected to retake his usual job once he returns to full strength.

Decker, 28, has missed just one game over the past three seasons. He has been Detroit’s left tackle starter since arriving as a first-round pick in 2016. It will be interesting to see how Sewell, 20, fares at his former position against the 49ers’ collection of edge rushers, after experiencing some acclimation issues at right tackle during the preseason.

Titans To Add K Michael Badgley To P-Squad

September 10th, 2021 at 2:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

After working out for the Texans earlier this week, Michael Badgley landed a gig with another AFC South team. The Titans are signing the former Chargers kicker to their practice squad, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

Badgley lost his job to second-year kicker Tristan Vizcaino in camp but may have a chance to resurface soon. The Titans have experienced issues at kicker over the past two seasons and are going with another new one, former Jet Sam Ficken, to start this year. Ficken, however, is dealing with a groin injury that had him limited in Friday’s practice.

The Bolts’ kicker for most of the past three seasons, Badgley made nearly 94% of his attempts as a rookie in 2018 — including a 59-yarder — but saw that number dip to 72.7% in 2020. The Chargers kept Badgley on their active roster in 2019, despite an eight-game injury absence to start the year, when the NFL utilized stricter IR rules. But they did not greenlight a fourth season, going instead with Vizcaino, who has one career game under his belt.

Badgley, 26, worked out for the Texans this week, but the team went with ex-Panther Joey Slye. Slye will now fill in for an injured Ka’imi Fairbairn to start the season. Badgley will represent Ficken insurance and in-house competition.

Ficken, 28, kicked in 15 games for the Jets in 2019 and in nine last year. A former Greg Zuerlein injury replacement in Los Angeles, Ficken landed in Tennessee via waiver claim in early August. Tennessee used Stephen Gostkowski as its kicker last season, but the former Pro Bowler made less than 70% of his field goal tries. In 2019, the Titans endured a historically bad kicking campaign, using five kickers and seeing that quintet go a combined 8-for-18.

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