Rams Trade Aqib Talib To Dolphins
The Rams are making a move at the deadline. Los Angeles is shipping cornerback Aqib Talib off to Miami, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Schefter reports that the Rams are sending a fifth-round pick to get the Dolphins to take on Talib. The Rams will get a future seventh-rounder back, per Albert Breer of SI.com (on Twitter). This is a straight up salary dump, and not a move Miami is making for the player. We heard just a couple of days ago that the Rams were open to moving Talib, so this isn’t too surprising. Los Angeles is reportedly looking to free up money in order to extend the recently acquired Jalen Ramsey.
It makes perfect sense for the Dolphins too as they continue to stockpile draft picks, and they have plenty of cap space. Talib is currently on injured reserve, so he won’t be eligible to play until Week 15 anyway. It’s quite possible, if not likely, that Talib never ends up playing a snap for the rebuilding Dolphins. The Rams picked up $4.2MM in cap space by making the trade, tweets Jason Fitzgerald of Overthecap.com. It’s the latest in a growing trend of NBA-style salary dump trades to non-contending teams. Prior to a few years ago, these moves were virtually unheard of in the NFL.
Talib is 33 now, and he didn’t look his best before going on IR with a rib issue. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and it’ll be very interesting to see what his market looks like. He’s obviously getting up there in age, but he should still receive some interest due to his pedigree. The former Buccaneer, Patriot, and Bronco made five straight Pro Bowls from 2013-17.
Bengals Bench Andy Dalton, Will Start Ryan Finley
The Andy Dalton era in Cincinnati appears to be coming to an end. The Bengals are sending Dalton to the bench following their bye week, sources told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).
Pelissero notes that rookie Ryan Finley is expected to start. The Bengals sit at 0-8 so the decision isn’t shocking, but it’s still monumental. Dalton was drafted by the Bengals back in 2011, and immediately became their starter. He’s been under center for the team for the past 8.5 seasons, and has had a lot of success in Cincy. The Bengals can move on from Dalton after this season without any dead cap charge, so this is probably it unless he’s reinserted before the end of this season.
There’s also a small chance Dalton could be traded in the next few hours now that he’s no longer the starter. It still seems unlikely, but it’s at least worth pondering. Zac Taylor’s first year as head coach has gotten off to a disastrous start, and the team is entering a full-blown rebuild. The Bengals are making the move so they can get a good look at Finley to help determine whether or not they need to draft a quarterback early next April, a source told Albert Breer of SI.com (Twitter link). Obviously, the Bengals are on track for a high draft pick.
Cincinnati took Finley in the fourth-round of this past draft. An N.C. State product, Finley was a three-year starter for the Wolfpack. Finley had a weird college career that included multiple redshirts and a transfer, so he’s pretty old for a rookie. He started college in 2013, and will turn 25 in December. His first career NFL start will come following the team’s bye against the Ravens in Week 10.
The 35th overall pick of the 2011 draft, Dalton made three Pro Bowls with the team. At one point under Marvin Lewis he led the Bengals to five straight playoff appearances, although he never was able to win a postseason game. Word of the move came on Dalton’s birthday. Not the gift he was looking for.
Falcons Cut Matt Bryant, Sign Younghoe Koo
Matt Bryant‘s second stint as the Falcons’ kicker is over. The Falcons have released the longtime veteran, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Atlanta worked out kickers Younghoe Koo and Elliott Fry yesterday, foreshadowing this move. Shortly after we heard Bryant was getting released, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweeted that the team is indeed signing Koo. Bryant spent ten years as the Falcons’ kicker from 2009-18, then was cut after last season. He spent all summer as a free agent, then was re-signed right before the start of the season when Giorgio Tavecchio and Blair Walsh struggled during the preseason.
Bryant is 44 and has been one of the league’s most recognizable kickers for the better part of two decades. After originally spending some time in the AFL and NFL Europe in the early 2000’s, he was finally able to latch on with the Giants. Bryant has already missed five field goals and an extra point this season, and this is likely the end of the road for him. In Atlanta’s Week 6 loss to the Cardinals, he missed a crucial extra point late in the game as the Falcons ended up losing by a single point.
Koo started the 2017 season off as the Chargers’ kicker, but was quickly released after missing a few clutch kicks. He has bounced around soon, including a stint in the AAF, and was on the Patriots’ practice squad earlier this season. Koo, the South Korean native who played his college ball at Georgia Southern, is definitely talented and a worthwhile flyer for a rebuilding Falcons team.
Jets Looking To Trade Le’Veon Bell?
Le’Veon Bell‘s run with the Jets might only last a half season. New York is “amenable” to trading their new running back, sources told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. Bell is drawing interest and the Jets are listening, but they aren’t “actively shopping” him, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com clarifies in a tweet. 
Although he’s not sure what kind of compensation the Jets are looking for in return, Mehta notes there are “legitimate buyers” for Bell’s services. If he really does get shipped out in the next few hours, it would end an extremely odd tenure with the team. Shortly after Bell was signed to a massive four-year, $52.5MM deal with $27MM guaranteed, Jets GM Mike Maccagnan was fired. Right after that, word leaked that head coach Adam Gase never wanted Bell in the first place.
The new Jets front office led by Joe Douglas clearly isn’t a fan of committing that much money to a running back, and at 1-6 it certainly makes sense for them to be sellers. As for potential suitors, Mehta floats the Texans, Chiefs and Bills as teams that could potentially be interested. After sitting out the entire 2018 season, Bell has been having a down year. Through seven games he’s averaging just 3.2 yards per carry, and only 5.8 yards per reception.
Of course that’s not really Bell’s fault, as he hasn’t been getting much help from the offensive line or the rest of the offense. All this being said, Mehta does concede that a trade might ultimately be challenging because of Bell’s contract. There are cheaper running backs on the market, and Kenyan Drake was only able to fetch a late-round pick yesterday.
As Albert Breer of SI.com points out in a tweet, Bell is only due a little over $1.3MM more for this year, so it won’t hurt teams too much in 2019. However, he’s owed $13.5MM in 2020, most of which is fully guaranteed. We’ll keep you posted once we hear anything more about Bell.
Jets Trade Leonard Williams To Giants
We’ve got another major trade to report. The Jets are sending defensive lineman Leonard Williams to the Giants, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Per Schefter, the Jets are getting a third-round pick in next April’s draft, and a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft. Fortunately for Williams he won’t have to move far, as the Jets are sending him to their crosstown rivals. Schefter soon added in a separate tweet that the fifth-round pick becomes a fourth-rounder if Williams signs a new deal with the G-Men before the start of the next league year. Schefter also reports that the Jets are paying $4MM of the $6MM that Williams is owed for the rest of 2019.
There have been murmurs about Williams getting traded, and something finally materialized. All the way back in January we heard the Jets were considering moving him, and hoping to get a second-round pick in return. Just yesterday, we passed along word that the Cowboys had been interested in Williams before trading for Michael Bennett, and there were apparently multiple other teams in the mix.
The USC product is in the final year of his deal, and the Jets wanted to get something for him while they still could. The third-rounder they’ll be getting from the Giants will presumably be an early third-rounder given their current record. The Giants being buyers at 2-6 and adding a rental player might seem odd, but they’ll presumably try and sign Williams to an extension now. He’ll slide in next to Dexter Lawrence, the Giants’ first-round rookie, on New York’s defensive line.
The sixth overall pick of the 2015 draft, Williams is still only 25. He made the Pro Bowl in 2016 and has shown that he’s capable of playing at a very high level. As NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano pointed out in a tweet, this is the first time that the Jets and Giants have ever made a trade, so it’s a historic day.
Extra Points: Drake, Eagles, Giants, Winston
The Lions were dealt a tough blow when they lost Kerryon Johnson to a knee injury, and they’re apparently planning on replacing him with outside help. Detroit has been “aggressively scouring the running back market” for potential trades, according to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Kenyan Drake is expected to be dealt by Miami in the next day or so, and we’ve already heard the Lions were interested. Robinson points out that Dolphins coach Brian Flores has a longstanding relationship with Lions coach Matt Patricia, which could help facilitate a deal. While the Lions need a running back and Drake is on the move, don’t necessarily bank on him landing in Detroit. It “didn’t sound like the Lions were close to anything on the trade front,” after speaking with a source, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
Here’s more from around the league:
- There are a few teams looking for offensive tackle help, most openly the Browns. We’ve hear Eagles backup Halapoulivaati Vaitai could be an option, and Robinson tweets that he continues to hear that Vaitai is the “most available” tackle on the market. He also notes that Vaitai had “several teams” interested in him during the preseason. Vaitai started 16 games between 2016 and 2017 and is entering the final year of his contract, so it makes sense why Philly would try and get something for him.
- Conversely, teams might have a harder time prying Nate Solder away. We’ve heard the Browns are interested in the Giants’ left tackle, but Robinson notes in the same tweet that he’ll be a “tougher get” since the Giants are “reticent” to shakeup Daniel Jones‘ offensive line too much. The former Patriot hasn’t lived up to his massive contract, but it looks like New York will hang onto him through the end of the season.
- Marcus Mariota has already been benched by the Titans, and it sounds like his 2015 draft-classmate Jameis Winston is going to be able to avoid a similar fate. Winston had another turnover-plagued game during the Buccaneers’ Week 8 loss, but Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times writes that the Bucs’ plan is to give Winston the rest of the season to make his case. Working in Winston’s favor is that unlike Mariota, he doesn’t have an experienced backup like Ryan Tannehill breathing down his neck. Winston’s current backup, Ryan Griffin, has never taken a regular season snap.
- The Texans lost starting running back Lamar Miller to a torn ACL right before the start of the season, and ended up trading for running back Carlos Hyde. Although many thought Houston would be actively looking for running back help after Miller went down it was apparently the Chiefs who initiated the Hyde trade, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. The Chiefs inked Hyde to a one-year, $2.8MM deal back in March, but clearly regretted it and didn’t want him on the team any longer. They landed offensive tackle Martinas Rankin in return.
49ers Getting Sixth-Round Offers For C.J. Beathard
We heard earlier today that the 49ers were getting trade calls on backup quarterback C.J. Beathard, and now we have more details. San Francisco is receiving offers in the “sixth-round range” for Beathard, a source told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports (Twitter link). 
Even though the 49ers have been keeping Beathard inactive on game-days, Maiocco writes that the team “is not inclined to do that deal.” San Francisco’s management and coaching staff have always been infatuated with Beathard, so that’s not shocking even though most teams would probably jump at the opportunity to receive any compensation for their third-string quarterback. Beathard lost the training camp competition with Nick Mullens to carry Jimmy Garoppolo‘s clipboard this season.
Beathard is still only 25 and has another year left on his cheap rookie deal after this season, so it makes sense why some teams would be interested. The Iowa product, who the 49ers took in the third-round back in 2017, has started five games each of the past two seasons. He’s shown some flashes, but his overall numbers are mediocre at best. The trade deadline is on Tuesday, so the 49ers only have a couple of days to decide what to do. They’re still undefeated entering Week 9, so maybe they’ll just choose not to disrupt anything and hang on to him.
Texans’ J.J. Watt Done For The Year
The Texans escaped with a close win over the Raiders on Sunday, but they also suffered a huge loss. The team fears that star defensive end J.J. Watt tore his pec and will miss the rest of the season, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Shortly after Rapoport’s report, Watt confirmed the news himself on Twitter.
“This game can be beautiful and it can also be brutal. Absolutely gutted that I won’t be able to finish the season with my guys and give the fans what they deserve. I truly love this game and can’t stand letting you guys down. Thank you for all of the thoughts & well-wishes,” his tweet read.
It’s a massive blow to Houston’s defense, which is already pretty banged up. It’s also devastating for Watt, who has had brutal injury luck the past few seasons. Watt appeared in only three games in 2016, and five in 2017. Back issues cost him most of 2016, with a plateau fracture ruining his next campaign. He appeared in all 16 games last year, and racked up 16 sacks. He’d been strong again this year, with four sacks and 20 quarterback hits through Houston’s first seven games.
The Texans are in a tight race in the AFC South, and this is the last thing they needed. Players have been dropping like flies in their secondary, including top cornerback Bradley Roby. Watt will be 31 when next season kicks off, and coming off his third major injury in four years. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year is under contract through the 2021 season.
Watt has been playing at a really high level, and is the undisputed leader of the team’s defense. The Texans traded away Jadeveon Clowney right before the start of the season, who they could certainly use now. With the trade deadline just a couple of days away, it’s possible the Texans will now explore the market for a veteran pass-rusher.
Cowboys Called On Jets’ Leonard Williams
There are just a couple of days before the trade deadline, and the Jets could be busy. They’ve reportedly been taking calls on receiver Robby Anderson and defensive lineman Leonard Williams, and it sounds like they’re going to be sellers. We now have word on one of the teams that was interested in Williams, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that the Cowboys inquired.
However, Schefter writes that Dallas’ recent trade for Michael Bennett took them out of the running for the USC product. Schefter says New York has “heard from other teams,” so it sounds like they’ll be able to find a suitor if they want to. Williams has been the center of trade speculation in the past, and is in the final year of his contract. Back in January the Jets apparently thought about moving Williams, and were reportedly looking for at least a second-round pick in return.
Williams is still only 25, and will surely be looking for a big payday this offseason. If the Jets don’t get offered an early draft pick, they could decide to just hold onto him and hope to recoup a compensatory draft pick when he signs elsewhere. While the Jets seem to be shopping Anderson and Williams, they aren’t going to conduct a full-on fire sale. Schefter reports that multiple teams have inquired about safety Marcus Maye, but that they’ve been told he’s “not available.”
Extra Points: Brady, Brown, Pettis
There’s been a lot of talk about Tom Brady‘s future recently, thanks to ESPN’s Adam Schefter hinting on this past week’s Monday Night Football broadcast that Brady might be eyeing a new team in 2020. Appearing on ESPN’s ‘Get Up’ earlier this week Schefter doubled down, per Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston. Schefter laid out the three possible options: Brady retiring, Brady returning to the Patriots in 2020, or Brady going to a new team. Schefter then said that “staying in New England, to me, would seem like the least likely option of the three.”
That’s a pretty bold statement to make, and Schefter is obviously one of the most well-connected people around the league so he wouldn’t say something like that lightly. The Patriots are coming off yet another Super Bowl win and have started the season 7-0, but thanks to a unique contract maneuver with voidable years, Brady is set to become a free agent at the end of the 2019 campaign. Brady’s deal includes a provision that precludes the Pats from franchise-tagging him, so he’s truly free to walk if he wants to. We’ll surely hear a lot more about his future with New England before the end of the season.
Here’s more from around the league on a quiet Saturday evening as we await kickoff:
- Speaking of the Patriots, their former receiver Antonio Brown is still looking for work. It’s been made clear that Brown won’t be picked up before the league includes its investigation into his sexual assault allegations, and the two sides appear to be in a stalemate. Brown says he’s ready to interview with the league, people close to the embattled wideout told Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link). However, a separate source told Fowler that the league “feels like it’s waiting on Brown.” This type of confusion is par for the course for this whole saga. Meanwhile, Fowler notes that Brown continues to train on his own in Florida.
- Dante Pettis was on the receiving end of a lot of hype this offseason, but the second-year pro hasn’t had the breakout campaign many were hoping for. The 49ers’ second-round pick last year, Pettis has been a bit of a disappointment. He’s been buried in San Francisco’s pecking order, and apparently he could be on the move. During a recent radio appearance, Sirius XM NFL Insider Adam Caplan said not to be surprised if the young receiver is traded at the deadline (Twitter link). There are a lot of teams in need of receiver help, and given Pettis’ age and the promise he flashed last season, the 49ers should be able to land a middle-round pick for him if they did decide to deal him. So far this season he has only nine catches for 83 yards and one touchdown.
- In case you missed it, multiple teams are in on Kenyan Drake.