HEADLINES

Year: 2023

Montez Sweat Addresses Bears Extension Talks; Latest On Jaylon Johnson

November 3rd, 2023 at 10:06pm CST by Sam Robinson

Last year, the Dolphins traded for Bradley Chubb hours before the trade deadline. Two days later, they finished out extension talks with a deal that prevented a franchise tag scenario for the former Pro Bowler. The Bears are trying to do the same.

Ryan Poles said this week he is confident the Bears will extend Sweat, whom they acquired from the Commanders for a second-round pick. For his part, Sweat does not appear to be in a hurry. It sounds like the contract-year defensive end would prefer to gauge this Bears fit first.

“I think all that goes into play from financial to the people around me to the players in the building, all that type of stuff like that,” Sweat said, via ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin. “I just got here. I’m still trying to figure out where I’m going to lay my head at tonight.”

As mentioned Wednesday, Sweat will be armed with some leverage. The Bears’ anemic pass rush over the past two years coupled with Sweat being in a contract year and being acquired for a pick likely to land in the 30s all stand to drive up the price tag. Although Sweat has no Pro Bowls on his resume, he is moving toward his first double-digit sack season. With the Bears sending over a high pick despite being 2-6, this trade is aimed around reaching an extension agreement. Sweat’s camp knowing this will undoubtedly set a high bar to clear.

The Bears will likely have the franchise tag ready for Sweat in the event the sides cannot come to terms by the March deadline to apply tags, but that could also run the risk of Jaylon Johnson departing in free agency. The Bears engaged in extension talks with the ascending contract-year cornerback last month, but failed trade talks — accelerated by the team granting his camp permission to seek a trade hours before the deadline — did not lead to a deal. The Bears wanted at least a second-rounder for Johnson, and Poles said the trade push came from Johnson’s camp after the Chargers game.

“There’s a difference between talking and trying to work things out versus trying to get things done,” Johnson said, via Cronin, of the October negotiations. “Up until this weekend, nothing was done. I figured I wanted some different opportunities to see what else was out there for me. Really, other than that, that’s about it.”

Still, the prospect of Sweat being paid first does not sit too well with Johnson. The former second-round pick, whom Pro Football Focus ranks third among corners this season, said (via CBS Sports) “it wouldn’t” go over too well with him if the Bears paid Sweat before extending him. With Johnson not sounding too enthused about restarting negotiations during the season, present circumstances introduce the risk of seeing that happen. Though mutual interest exists between the Bears and Johnson on a second contract, the Utah alum added he is “100%” interested in seeing what is out there for him in free agency.

“Here’s the thing. I don’t want to lose Jaylon Johnson,” Poles said. “If I were to lose Jaylon Johnson, I would like to have a high percentage of hitting on another Jaylon Johnson, which to me, is a late first and into early second. Really simple there. That didn’t happen. We are still open to getting a contract done. I know we’re going to follow Jaylon’s lead on how he wants to go about doing that but we’re still open.”

Sweat being paid early would open the door to the Bears tagging Johnson, but no team has cuffed a corner with the tag since the Rams retagged Trumaine Johnson in 2017. That said, the Bears did use the transition tag on Kyle Fuller in 2018, soon matching a Packers offer sheet to retain him. The transition tag price is expected to come in just south of $17MM, with the franchise tag at nearly $20MM. With the transition tag not providing any compensation for a team if a player signs an unmatched offer sheet, teams rarely use this tag.

The Bears will now see how Matt Eberflus‘ defense looks with Sweat opposite Yannick Ngakoue, with Johnson anchoring the secondary. All three of these players being in contract years (and Eberflus’ seat warming) injects uncertainty into this situation. Though, Sweat can probably count on being in Chicago past 2023.

NFL Restructures: Dawkins, Sanders, Byard

November 3rd, 2023 at 10:02pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are a few details on recent contract restructures around the NFL:

  • Last week, the Bills and left tackle Dion Dawkins agreed to a restructured deal to help create some cap space, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. Buffalo converted $5.18MM of Dawkins’ 2023 base salary into a signing bonus, clearing up $3.9MM of cap space.
  • The Dolphins restructured the contract of kicker Jason Sanders earlier this month, per Jason Fitzgerald of overthecap.com. While the specifics have not yet been reported, Sanders’ cap hit in 2023 will be lessened from $3.7MM to $2.4MM.
  • Yates reported another restructure this week, with the Eagles restructuring the contract of newly acquired safety Kevin Byard. The team converted $888,750 of Byard’s 2023 salary into a bonus in order to clear $711K of cap space.

NFL Injury Rumors: Giants, Banks, Stafford

November 3rd, 2023 at 9:22pm CST by Ely Allen

The Giants received some good news with the announcement that starting quarterback Daniel Jones has received clearance to play and is line to start Week 9 in Las Vegas. In the same breath, though, New York was forced into the realization that it will be without Jones’ safety net and security blanket as backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor and tight end Darren Waller will both be absent this weekend and, potentially, longer, according to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.

Taylor sustained a rib cage injury that knocked him out of last week’s overtime loss to the Jets. Waller is also dealing with some injury trouble concerning his groin and hamstring. Despite the injuries last week, Taylor and Waller led the Giants in passing and receiving, respectively, in the loss, despite only totaling eight yards passing and four yards receiving.

Raanan relayed the report from head coach Brian Daboll, who mentioned that he doesn’t expect either player back any time soon. In fact, the head coach didn’t rule a stint on injured reserve for Taylor or Waller.

Here are a few other injury rumors from around the NFL, starting with a Texans rookie starter:

  • Houston placed rookie center Jarrett Patterson, who had been forced into the starting lineup due to other injuries along the offensive line, on IR on Tuesday. The specifics of Patterson’s injury weren’t reported at the time, but Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 informed us this week that Patterson suffered a broken fibula. After receiving multiple medical opinions, Patterson will avoid surgery but is still expected to miss six to eight weeks.
  • On the second to last drive of last week’s loss to Cincinnati, 49ers starting left guard Aaron Banks suffered a foot injury that he wouldn’t report until finishing the game. Per a report by David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone, head coach Kyle Shanahan communicated that he expects Banks to miss a few weeks with a turf toe injury. “Yeah, with turf toe, you never know,” Shanahan said. “So, they told me it should be a few weeks, is what I got here. I know that’s a little vague, but I would say that means at least three weeks.” Luckily for San Francisco, one of those weeks should include the team’s Week 9 bye.
  • While dealing with a UCL sprain suffered in this past weekend’s loss to Dallas, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has been classified as day-to-day. After testing out the thumb injury on Tuesday, Stafford sat out the remainder of this week’s practices, according to Kevin Patra of NFL Network. Still, head coach Sean McVay reported Stafford will be labeled as questionable heading into the Week 9 and will be a game-time decision to play. If Stafford is unavailable on Sunday, backup quarterback Brett Rypien will make the start. Rypien has gone 2-1 in three starts over his first four years in the league but has thrown twice as many interceptions (8) as touchdowns (4). Either way, Los Angeles will leave Sunday headed towards a bye week, allowing Stafford an extra week of rest to potentially return for Week 11.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/3/23

November 3rd, 2023 at 8:24pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s minor transactions from around the league:

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Houston Texans

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Washington Commanders

Anderson, a fifth-round draft pick last year for the Bengals, missed his entire rookie season on injured reserve. After contributing in seven games this year as a core special teamer, Anderson’s sophomore season will also be cut short with head coach Zac Taylor confirming that the young safety tore his ACL, per Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic. He played through the initial injury in last week’s win but will be unable to continue the rest of the year.

The Patriots’ Anderson, on the other hand, is a more intriguing situation. After he spent most of the preseason on the non-football illness list with an undisclosed illness, the team is placing Anderson on IR with an “illness” designation. It’s not clear at this time if this is a similar issue to what held him out of the preseason, but illness has surely dealt a significant blow to Anderson’s 2023 season so far.

The Giants got ahead of the waiver rules by releasing Olszewski in a procedural move on Monday before the trade deadline. This allowed them to plainly sign Olszewski back to the active roster on a new deal without him having to clear waivers. As predicted, he returns to the roster for Week 9.

Castro-Fields and Cox will fill the roster spots vacated by the Commanders’ big trades of defensive ends Chase Young to the 49ers and Montez Sweat to the Bears.

LT Garett Bolles Seeking Broncos Extension

November 3rd, 2023 at 5:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

Other than the pick-swap 49ers trade involving Randy Gregory executed weeks ago, the Broncos did not opt to make any moves at the trade deadline. Sean Payton‘s team stood down, and it will see how its batch of trade chips performs down the stretch.

Deals will undoubtedly be revisited in 2024, with trade-rumor mainstays Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton more likely than not to be back in those discussions. Justin Simmons, who joins Jeudy and Sutton in being under contract beyond 2023, also generated trade interest leading up to this year’s deadline. Like Simmons, Garett Bolles was mentioned as a potential chip. But the longtime Denver left tackle did not emerge as a regular in pre-deadline rumors.

Bolles has been the Broncos’ left tackle starter since they selected him in the 2017 first round. Simmons is in place as the team’s longest-tenured starter; Bolles holds that distinction on offense, arriving a year after the Pro Bowl safety. The Utah product also has a second-team All-Pro nod on his resume, from 2020, when he signed his Broncos extension. That deal runs through 2024, but Denver7’s Troy Renck notes Bolles is interested in another extension that would keep him in Denver beyond 2024.

Coming into the NFL in his age-25 season, Bolles is 31 despite being in his seventh season. The Broncos drafted him during Vance Joseph‘s first year as HC. The team has used nine play-callers since choosing Bolles 17th overall six years ago, but he has been a constant on offense during this unremarkable period for the franchise. Despite struggling with penalties during his early years, Bolles played well during his 2020 contract campaign and secured a four-year, $68MM extension in November 2020.

While current GM George Paton signed off on Simmons’ through-2024 extension (four years, $61MM), John Elway remained in place as GM when the Bolles deal came to pass. Bolles also suffered a broken leg in Week 5 of the 2022 season, accelerating the Broncos’ descent to last place in points last year. The team has deployed a healthier squad in 2023, and Bolles has started all eight games. Pro Football Focus rates him 23rd among tackles, slotting his pass-protection grade in the top 10 at the position.

Denver has Mike McGlinchey and Ben Powers signed to upper-crust deals at their respective positions. Even with Bolles on his $17MM-per-year accord, the Broncos join the Texans as the only team with both their tackles in the top 10 (AAV-wise) this season. The team’s willingness to give Bolles a second extension may also come down to its plans with Russell Wilson. While the scrutinized QB has fared better in 2023, he has not yet justified the lofty trade cost nor the $49MM-per-year extension he signed before the 2022 season. But a record-setting dead-money bill would await if Payton signed off on making the accomplished QB a post-June 1 cut next year. This stands to overshadow however the Broncos proceed with Bolles, who is due a nonguaranteed $15.7MM base salary in 2024.

Panthers Claim CB David Long

November 3rd, 2023 at 3:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Panthers will take a flier on a cornerback that will bring considerable system familiarity to the team. A day after the Raiders waived David Long, the veteran cover man will land with the Panthers.

Long will have a good knowledge of Ejiro Evero‘s defensive system, with the fifth-year defender having overlapped with the first-year Carolina DC in Los Angeles for three years. Ejiro resided as a Rams assistant during much of Long’s rookie-contract stay with the Rams. New Panthers secondary coach Jonathan Cooley also overlapped with Long in Los Angeles.

Although unable to earn regular playing time with the Raiders, Long should have some allies in Charlotte. Ejiro spent five years on Sean McVay‘s staff and finished out that run as the team’s DBs coach during its Super Bowl-winning 2021 campaign. Evero spent the previous four years as the Rams’ safeties coach. Long started five games, including one playoff contest, during that memorable season. So far in 2023, however, Long has made one start.

The Raiders moved on from 2022 starters Rock Ya-Sin and Anthony Averett this offseason, starting over with a handful of flier-type additions. Long became one of those, signing a one-year, $1.5MM deal that included $625K guaranteed. But the Raiders went with fourth-round rookie Jakorian Bennett over Long as a starter. A former third-round Rams draftee back in 2019, Long played only 24% of the Raiders’ defensive snaps this season. The Raiders have also made significant changes this week, firing Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels. That will likely lead to more personnel adjustments as well.

With the Rams letting Darious Williams walk in free agency in 2022, they looked set to give more playing time to Long and Robert Rochell. But neither could carve out consistent roles as L.A. starters. Long started four games in 2022. The Michigan alum did, however, intercept a Kyler Murray pass and return it three yards for a touchdown in the Rams’ 2021 wild-card romp. Long also started in Super Bowl LVI, playing 82% of the Rams’ defensive snaps in the game.

Carolina dangled veteran Donte Jackson in trades but did not unload anyone at this week’s deadline. The team remains without Jaycee Horn, who is on IR with a significant hamstring injury sustained in Week 1. Jackson, C.J. Henderson and ex-Evero Rams charge Troy Hill are in place as Carolina’s starters for the time being.

Steelers LB Cole Holcomb To Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery

November 3rd, 2023 at 2:02pm CST by Adam La Rose

Cole Holcomb suffered a frightening knee injury in last night’s Steelers victory. As a result, the linebacker will see his debut season in Pittsburgh come to a premature end.

Holcomb was carted off the field in the first quarter after suffering the injury, one which head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed after the game was “serious.” He remained in hospital overnight but has since been discharged, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. Holcomb will nevertheless require surgery, Pelissero adds, and he will miss the remainder of the campaign as a result.

The 27-year-old was part of Pittsburgh’s renovations at the inside linebacker spot, signing a three-year, $18MM deal in free agency. That pact marked an end to Holcomb’s four-year run in Washington, despite the interest the Commanders had in retaining him. A starting spot and a healthy workload was provided upon arrival with the Steelers, as the former fifth-rounder logged a 77% snap share. He posted 54 tackles (tied for the team lead) and a pair of forced fumbles across eight games.

As a result, Holcomb’s loss will be acutely felt on a Pittsburgh defense which has already put up underwhelming numbers in several categories. The North Carolina product posted a career-best PFF grade of 72.2 in run defense for 2023, so his absence will deal a blow to a unit surrendering an average of 133 yards per game on the ground. The Steelers will rely more heavily on Elandon Roberts and Kwon Alexander, the other members of the team’s three-man rotation at the LB spot.

While that pair will be counted on to close out the season, Holcomb will turn his attention to the rehab process after his surgery. Fortunately, Pelissero adds that a full recovery is expected, but his ability to return to full health in time for 2024 will be crucial given his importance to the Steelers’ defense. Holcomb is due $6MM in each of the next two years, with scheduled cap hits of $7.64MM for both of those seasons.

Raiders To Bench Jimmy Garoppolo, Start Aidan O’Connell In Week 9

November 3rd, 2023 at 1:20pm CST by Sam Robinson

NOVEMBER 3: Garoppolo will see his time atop the depth chart come to an end, but he will remain in the gameday lineup on Sunday. Pierce confirmed on Friday that the 32-year-old will back up O’Connell, meaning Hoyer will serve as the emergency third quarterback. While the chance of Garoppolo suiting up could lead to a new injury and thus complicate his likely exit this offseason, this setup will give Vegas an insurance policy while O’Connell receives an extended look as a starter.

NOVEMBER 1: Aidan O’Connell will return to a starting role and will do so after being demoted to third-stringer. Following Josh McDaniels‘ ouster, the Raiders are preparing to install the rookie as their starting quarterback, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. This is not expected to be a one-off, with Rapoport adding O’Connell will take the reins “going forward.”

Jimmy Garoppolo returned in Week 8 from a back injury that sidelined him the previous week, but despite signing a three-year deal this offseason, the longtime starter will be benched. This will certainly mark a major transition for the Raiders, who had used Brian Hoyer ahead of O’Connell in Week 7. The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore initially reported the Raiders were leaning in this direction.

McDaniels turned to O’Connell in Week 4 following a Garoppolo concussion but kept him on the bench when Garoppolo went down two weeks later. Hoyer, 38, replaced Garoppolo against the Patriots and helped the team to a win. Hoyer then started against the Bears, though O’Connell also saw time late in that ugly defeat against the Tyson Bagent-quarterbacked team. Now, O’Connell will make the unexpected jump past Garoppolo for a team that is in line to have Bo Hardegree calling plays.

The Raiders have fired McDaniels, GM Dave Ziegler and OC Mick Lombardi. While Scott Turner is on staff as pass-game coordinator and brings four full seasons as a play-calling OC, Hardegree received the nod. Linebackers coach Antonio Pierce is now Las Vegas’ interim HC, with assistant GM Champ Kelly — who had interviewed for the GM gig — operating as interim GM. Garoppolo’s demotion will be the most notable on-field change in the wake of the housecleaning.

Garoppolo signed a three-year, $72.75MM deal with the Raiders, rejoining McDaniels after 5 1/2 seasons with the 49ers. Garoppolo, who had played for McDaniels for 3 1/2 seasons in New England, has started 63 career games. Although he has developed an earned reputation as the NFL’s most injury-prone active QB, Garoppolo had fared well in Kyle Shanahan‘s system. But the 10th-year QB, who turns 32 on Thursday, did not hit the ground running when back with McDaniels in Las Vegas. Garoppolo sits 30th in QBR and, despite missing two games, has thrown an NFL-high nine interceptions. The Raiders’ problems on offense go deeper than Garoppolo, hence the firings, but a team source informed Rapoport that O’Connell is the team’s best QB.

That certainly remains to be seen. The Purdue product flashed during the preseason and received the first crack at replacing Garoppolo, though Hoyer re-entering the picture does not bode too well for the fourth-round pick’s prospects. Khalil Mack sacked O’Connell six times during a seven-point loss in which the rookie fumbled thrice. O’Connell still completed 24 of 39 passes for 248 yards in that one-score loss, though a late red zone interception denied the Raiders a chance to tie that game.

O’Connell saw regular action in all four seasons with the Boilermakers and worked as their full-time starter in his final two. The Raiders met with each of the top five QB prospects this year but eyed defense (Tyree Wilson) in Round 1 and tabled their QB pick until No. 135 overall. This decision points Garoppolo to another free agency bid in 2024. Garoppolo’s 2024 base salary ($11.25MM) is guaranteed, but CBS Sports’ Joel Corry notes a Raiders September restructure of the deal — which added two void years for cap-saving purposes — will create $28MM in dead-money charges in the event of a non-post-June 1 cut designation. A post-June 1 cut would lead to a $15MM-plus dead-money hit. That restructure will create a challenge for the Raiders’ next GM come 2024.

Deshaun Watson To Start For Browns In Week 9

November 3rd, 2023 at 12:42pm CST by Adam La Rose

In and out of the lineup over the past several weeks, Deshaun Watson is set to make his latest return to the field on Sunday. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski announced Watson will be the team’s Week 9 starter.

Watson was a full participant in practice Friday, and he is off the team’s injury report altogether. Today’s news comes just one day after he admitted (via ESPN’s Jake Trotter) to being “unsure” of his availability against the Cardinals. During that media session, he also acknowledged his start against the Colts in Week 7 marked a premature return to action.

The 28-year-old re-injured his throwing shoulder early in that game, and the team elected to keep him sidelined for the remainder of the contest. That marked the latest aggravation of Watson’s strained rotator cuff, an injury which he picked up in Week 3. It has caused numerous developments in the time since, with Cleveland at times electing to sit him despite being cleared and at others taking the more cautious approach with their franchise passer. P.J. Walker has filled in for Watson, though his performances have left plenty to be desired in spite of the team’s 2-1 record over the past three games.

Walker has thrown five interceptions and one touchdown during his time in Cleveland this year while completing 49.5% of his passes. Rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson did not fare well in his regular season debut, either, so the Browns are lacking in proven options behind Watson on the depth chart. For that reason, it came as a surprise to many that Cleveland did not pursue a QB addition before this week’s trade deadline. Of course, that will become a moot point if Watson is able to remain healthy for the rest of the season.

The three-time Pro Bowler was never seriously considered an IR candidate during his recovery, and the Browns’ decision to avoid at least a four-week shutdown left him with a day-to-day evaluation status leading up to Friday’s announcement. In the second year of his fully-guaranteed, $230MM deal, Watson’s ability to not only remain healthy but deliver an uptick in performance relative to his showings early in the campaign will be critical.

It still remains to be seen who Watson and the Browns will face in Week 9. The Cardinals dealt Josh Dobbs to the Vikings on Tuesday, leaving either Clayton Tune or Kyler Murray in place to take on first-team duties. The latter has yet to make his season debut, but he will need to be activated from the PUP list in the coming days to be eligible to play at any point in the campaign. Regardless of what happens regarding Arizona’s QB situation, though, Cleveland’s has now become clearer.

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