Ravens Cut Michael Schofield
As the Ravens start to cut their roster down to 53, one established veteran found himself on the chopping block. Baltimore terminated the contract of offensive lineman Michael Schofield, the team announced Monday.
As a vested veteran Schofield will now become a free agent who can sign with any team rather than being subjected to waivers. Although it was a formality, the team also officially placed starting running back J.K. Dobbins on injured reserve, ending his 2021 season before it could start.
Schofield originally entered the league as a third-round pick of the Broncos back in 2014. After missing his rookie year he started 29 games at tackle and guard for Denver over the following two seasons, and won Super Bowl 50 with the team. Despite his large contributions he found himself waived just before the start of the 2017 season, and was quickly scooped up by the Chargers.
He ended up starting all 32 games for Los Angeles at guard between 2018-19. He signed with the Panthers as a free agent last offseason, and started three games for Carolina in 2020. Still only 30 and with 69 career starts under his belt as well as some positional versatility, he should be able to find a new home at some point.
Texans Prepared To Keep Deshaun Watson Inactive For 2021
It doesn’t look like a Deshaun Watson trade is imminent, and it certainly doesn’t look like he’ll be playing for the Texans anytime soon. A third, and perhaps most likely, option has now emerged.
Houston is “prepared to have Deshaun Watson on the 53-man roster and inactive every week,” sources told veteran NFL writer Aaron Wilson (Twitter link). That echoes the sentiment from Albert Breer of SI.com, who has some additional details. Notably, Breer reports that “packages involving three first-round picks (and then some) were discussed by interested teams,” before the sexual harassment allegations against Watson came to light.
Breer says, like we’ve heard before, that teams now want to make any draft picks traded for Watson conditional based on his availability to play. Breer writes that he hasn’t “gotten any indication that the Texans are willing to tie their return to those sorts of contingencies,” leading us to the current impasse.
To make it even more firm, Michael Lombardi of The Athletic tweets that Houston “has no intentions of trading Watson” right now, and that the team “turned down a huge offer” from a rival franchise over the summer.
If interested teams and the Texans are both locked in on those positions, which makes perfect sense, Houston holding on to Watson until his off-field issues are resolved would seem to be the logical move.
One reason the Texans might be incentivized to hold out until the offseason would be that they would know the precise value of any 2022 draft picks they were trading for, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network points out (Twitter video link). They wouldn’t have to guess about where their trade partner would end up in the draft order.
On the other hand, Rapsheet also points out that there’s no guarantee the civil (and potentially criminal) proceedings against Watson are wrapped up by the spring either. Even still, it now sounds like the Texans paying Watson $10.54MM to not play for them in 2021 might be the likeliest scenario.
Eagles Activate Landon Dickerson Off NFI
A key Eagles rookie appears to be nearing his return. Second-round offensive lineman Landon Dickerson has been activated off the NFI list, the team announced Monday.
It means Dickerson should be ready to make his pro debut sooner rather than later. If he had stayed on the NFI list he would’ve had to miss the first six games of the season, which means the Eagles expect him to be ready before then. Dickerson was a star center at Alabama, and was a unanimous All-American for his work this past season. Also the winner of the Rimington Trophy for the nation’s top center, he unfortunately tore an ACL in the SEC Championship Game.
Without the ACL tear he likely would’ve been a first-round pick, but the Eagles were able to scoop him up at No. 37 because of it. Philly insisted all along that they didn’t view 2021 as a redshirt year for Dickerson, and clearly they meant it.
It’s been reported that the team initially drafted him with intention of moving him to guard, but this summer they reopened the possibility of him playing at center. They of course still have Jason Kelce at the pivot, but he’ll turn 34 in November.
Giants To Trade B.J. Hill To Bengals For Billy Price
We’ve got another trade to report! Not too long after the Bills dealt Darryl Johnson to the Panthers, the Giants and Bengals have pulled off an interesting swap. New York has agreed to trade defensive lineman B.J. Hill, head coach Joe Judge announced to the media on Monday.
Right after Judge said Hill would be traded, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweeted that it was to the Bengals for offensive lineman Billy Price. The Bengals will also get a conditional seventh-round pick in the deal, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News notes in a tweet. In a follow-up tweet, Rapoport notes that Price has been a “key name” in trade talks recently, and that the Giants were searching for O-line depth.
Price wasn’t the only Bengals lineman on the block, as Albert Breer of SI.com tweets that Cincy also had discussions about guard Michael Jordan. He adds that the Jaguars joined the Giants as teams calling around about interior offensive line help this week.
A former first-rounder, Price was the 18th overall pick back in 2018. Cincinnati declined his fifth-year option this past offseason, meaning he’ll be a free agent after this season. The Ohio State product never lived up to his draft status, and could benefit from the change in scenery.
He was Cincy’s starter at center as a rookie, then moved to guard and only started eight games in 2019. This past season he was mostly a reserve, only starting one game. Hill was a third-round pick back in 2018, and also declined after his rookie year.
In his first pro season he had 5.5 sacks while starting 12 games, but over the past two years he’s had just two total sacks while being reduced to a rotational role. It makes sense for both sides, with each addressing an area of need.
49ers Waive WR Richie James
SATURDAY: The 49ers will drop James from their roster for the time being. San Francisco waived the wide receiver with an injury designation and re-signed wideout River Cracraft to take James’ roster spot.
FRIDAY: As the preseason winds down, the 49ers have suffered a significant injury. Receiver Richie James has a knee issue that requires surgery, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced Friday.
Shanahan said the injury will keep James sidelined for at least six weeks. A hamstring injury limited James to 11 games last season, but he still managed to play a pretty big role on offense. After serving mostly as a return man during his first two years in the pros, James was thrust into a more prominent position due to San Francisco’s health issues at receiver.
He ended up finishing with 23 catches for 394 yards and a touchdown in those 11 games. Often used as a deep threat, he averaged a robust 17.1 yards per reception. His true breakout came during a Thursday Night Football game you may recall, when he had 184 yards against the Packers.
After returning 33 in 2019, James only returned six punts last year as he focused on his receiving work. The timeline presented by Shanahan means he’ll miss at least the first handful of regular season games. He’ll presumably go on IR after the cutdown to 53 so that he’ll be able to play again this season.
It’s a tough break for the Middle Tennessee product as he enters the final year of his rookie deal. He was a seventh-round pick back in 2018. James was expected to be the punt returner again in 2021, a role which now will likely fall to veteran Travis Benjamin.
Luke Willson To Visit Seahawks
Luke Willson could be headed back to Seattle once again. The veteran tight end will visit the Seahawks later this week, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
The Rice product, originally drafted by the Seahawks in the fifth-round in 2013, has already had three separate stints with the team. He spent his first five pro seasons with the team before signing with Detroit in 2018. After a season with the Lions he was with the Raiders for a bit, then cut and scooped back up by the Seahawks. Seattle cut him in November of 2020, he then signed with the Ravens, and was cut by Baltimore about a month later.
That led him back to the Seahawks one final time, and he finished the year on the roster. This is the first we’ve heard of the 31-year-old this offseason. Willson’s most productive season as a receiver came in 2014, when he had 22 catches for 362 yards and three touchdowns.
He’s been more of a blocker in recent years, and if he signs once again he likely won’t be counted on to play too big of a role on offense. Seattle currently has ex-Ram Gerald Everett and Will Dissly atop the depth chart at tight end.
Packers To Trade Ka’dar Hollman To Texans
New Texans GM Nick Caserio continues to wheel and deal. Houston has agreed to a trade to acquire cornerback Ka’dar Hollman from the Packers, a source told veteran NFL reporter Aaron Wilson (Twitter link). The Texans will send back a 2022 seventh-round pick via the Bears for Hollman, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
Caserio has made several trades recently, and this isn’t even his first one with Green Bay. The two teams recently worked out a deal for receiver Randall Cobb, at the behest of Aaron Rodgers. Caserio just traded corner Keion Crossen to the Giants last week, so Hollman can essentially be seen as a replacement in the secondary.
The Packers drafted Hollman in the sixth-round out of Toledo in 2019. He barely saw the field as a rookie, but took on a real role this past season. He appeared in 14 games for Green Bay, and even started one.
Hollman ended up playing a bit over 10 percent of the defensive snaps, finishing with 10 tackles and three passes defended. He was also a contributor on special teams, and is a bit on the older side for a third-year pro as he’ll turn 27 next month. Caserio is certainly being aggressive if nothing else as he continues to completely remake Houston’s roster.
Browns To Place Cody Parkey On IR
The Browns will officially have a new kicker in 2021. Cleveland will place kicker Cody Parkey on injured reserve with a quad injury, head coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Monday.
Since Parkey is being moved to IR before final roster cut-downs, it means he won’t be able to play for the Browns this season. He kicked in 15 games for the Browns in 2020, connecting on 19 of his 22 field goal attempts. He went 43/47 on extra point attempts. Parkey has been the regular season kicker for four different teams in the past four seasons.
He was with the Dolphins in 2017, the Bears in 2018, the Titans in 2019, and then the Browns last year. He began his pro career in 2014, and was the Eagles’ kicker in his rookie season, so he’s bounced around a fair amount. Parkey has kicked in plenty of games, but he’s perhaps most well known for his infamous ‘double doink’ missed kick in the playoffs with Chicago a few years ago.
The move will leave Chase McLaughlin as the only kicker on Cleveland’s roster. Although beat writers were quick to point out that Stefanski stopped short of declaring McLaughlin the new full-time kicker, it appears it’ll be him unless they decide to add a last-minute veteran to the mix. McLaughlin kicked in three games with the Jaguars and one with the Jets last year.
Vikings Sign Ito Smith, Place Janarius Robinson On IR
Teams continue to make flurries of roster moves on Monday, and we’ve got another couple of notable ones to pass along. The Vikings announced that they’ve signed free agent running back Ito Smith and placed rookie defensive end Janarius Robinson on injured reserve.
Smith wasn’t out of a job too long, as he was just released by the Cardinals last week. He spent the first three seasons of his pro career with the Falcons, and was Atlanta’s lead back for stretches in both 2018 and 2020. As a rookie he got his most extensive run, carrying the ball 90 times for 315 yards and four touchdowns, adding 27 receptions for another 152 yards. This past season he rushed 63 times for 268 yards and one touchdown, with 17 catches for 75 yards.
Smith will now compete with Ameer Abdullah and Kene Nwangwu for spots in Minnesota’s backfield behind Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison. Since Robinson is being placed on IR before the cutdown to 53 players, that means he’ll have to miss the entire season.
It’s a disappointing end to his first campaign. The pass-rusher was just drafted by the Vikings in the fourth-round out of Florida State. Minnesota re-signed Everson Griffen earlier this morning, perhaps partially due to this injury.
Packers Cut Kamal Martin
As teams trim their rosters down to the required 80 players, the Packers have made a notable cut. Green Bay has waived linebacker Kamal Martin, a source told Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Martin was a fifth-round pick of the team just last year, and his release raised plenty of eyebrows. Numerous Packers beat writers were quick to express surprise that Martin wasn’t even able to make it to final cuts. The Minnesota product was running with the ones for a lot of last offseason, and he started six games for the Pack in 2020.
It is pretty rare for a guy to go from six-game starter to released well before final cuts in the span of one year, especially when there was no coaching change with the team. Martin had 24 tackles, three for a loss, and one sack in 10 games last year.
Normally an inside linebacker, the team was trying him out at outside linebacker earlier this training camp, which in hindsight would’ve been a sign he was battling for his roster spot.