Jets’ Jarrad Davis To Miss Time
Another week, another brutal blow to the Jets’ defense. Last week it was pass-rusher Carl Lawson tearing his Achilles, and now one of New York’s other big offseason acquisitions is hitting the shelf.
Linebacker Jarrad Davis has an ankle injury that will keep him out until some time around the Jets’ bye week, rookie head coach Robert Saleh announced Monday. Fortunately it’s not a season-ender like Lawson’s, but it’s still a tough break. Davis, who went down during the team’s preseason game against the Packers over the weekend, was supposed to be a starter. Saleh announced that rookie fifth-round pick Jamien Sherwood would slide into the starting lineup to replace him while he’s out.
The 21st pick of the 2017 draft by the Lions, Davis didn’t quite live up to first-round expectations in Detroit. He saw his fifth-year option get declined, and became a free agent after four seasons with the team. The Florida product then inked a one-year, $5.5MM pact with the Jets this offseason.
That deal apparently almost never happened, because Davis revealed just a few weeks ago that he considered walking away from the game and retiring. He went on to say that he felt rejuvenated playing for Saleh and his 4-3 defense where he felt like a better fit, so this injury is especially disappointing.
New York underwent a lot of change this offseason, with a new coach, new quarterback, and overhauled defense. Health issues are the last thing they needed as they enter a 2021 campaign with lots of uncertainty.
49ers Cut James Burgess
As teams trim down to 85 players, it’s mostly been smaller-name UDFA types getting let go so far. But some relatively well known veterans are also getting the boot, including James Burgess.
The 49ers announced they were cutting the linebacker on Monday. Burgess signed with the team back in May, but the addition over the weekend of fellow inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks made him expendable. A 2016 UDFA from Louisville, Burgess became a nine-game starter for the Browns in 2017.
He eventually latched on with the Jets as a waiver claim, and started 10 games in New York in 2019. Let go again at final cuts in 2020, he spent some time on the Falcons’ practice squad and played in a few games with the Packers. Despite having already been on the roster for nine different NFL teams, Burgess is still only 27.
He’s always managed to resurface quickly in the past, so don’t be surprised if he does again this season.
Texans To Trade Keion Crossen To Giants
A trade! On a day where a bunch of bottom of the roster guys are getting let go as NFL teams trim their rosters to 85 players, the Texans and Giants made time to work out a deal.
Houston is sending cornerback Keion Crossen to New York, a source told Doug Kyed of Pro Football Focus (Twitter link). In exchange the Giants will send back a 2023 sixth-round pick, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets. Crossen originally entered the league as a seventh-round pick of the Patriots in 2018. He won Super Bowl LIII with the team, but was traded to the Texans the following August.
Although he’s a cornerback and actually started four games on defense for Houston this past year, he’s mostly known as a special teams standout. As many were quick to point out, Giants head coach Joe Judge was Crossen’s special teams coordinator his rookie season in New England.
His first two years as a pro he was almost exclusively a special teams guy, but last season he was pressed into some action for an undermanned Houston defense and finished with 46 tackles and five passes defended.
Cardinals Cut RB Ito Smith, 3 Others
As teams are required to cut their rosters down to 85 players by tomorrow, more guys are getting shown the door. Veteran running back Ito Smith was one of the latest casualties as the Cardinals announced his release on Monday.
Arizona also cut receivers Aleva Hifo and JoJo Ward, and defensive tackle Darius Kilgo. Smith was released by the Falcons back in April, and only latched on with the Cardinals last week. He had previously worked out for the Giants. The 2018 fourth-round pick spent his first four professional seasons in Atlanta, and operated as their lead back for stretches during the 2018 and 2020 seasons.
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. Hifo and Ward are both 2020 UDFAs, from BYU and Hawaii respectively.
Kilgo is a 2015 sixth-round pick of the Broncos who is notable for winning back to back rings in Super Bowl 50 and then LI with the Broncos and Patriots. He also just signed in the desert last week.
Chargers Cut P Lachlan Edwards, 2 Others
The Chargers trimmed down the roster a bit on Monday, making a couple of special teams moves. Los Angeles has cut punter Lachlan Edwards, kicker Alex Kessman, and receiver Michael Bandy, the team announced.
Edwards was drafted by the Jets in the seventh round in 2016, and spent the next four seasons as New York’s punter. He wasn’t re-signed after the 2019 season, and after a short stint with Buffalo landed on the Chargers’ practice squad late last year. His release means that Los Angeles will be rolling with Ty Long as their punter for the third straight season.
Meanwhile, the release of Kessman doesn’t ensure Michael Badgley has won the kicking job, because he still has Tristan Vizcaino to compete with. Kessman was a rookie UDFA from Pitt.
Bandy played college ball at the University of San Diego, but then began a career in rugby after finding no pro opportunities. Time in The Spring League earned him the opportunity with the Chargers.
Jets Not Looking To Move On From Denzel Mims?
Got news for Jets fans, as we finally have a positive update to pass along on young receiver Denzel Mims. First we heard that he was falling behind on the depth chart in training camp, and then there were rumblings late last week that he might not be long for the team.
Apparently, the concerns have been overblown. The Jets “are not looking to trade or cut” Mims, sources tell Tony Pauline of ProFootballNetwork.com. New York drafted Mims in the second-round just last year, so it always would’ve been surprising if he had actually been on his way out. His stock apparently hasn’t taken much of a tumble league-wide, as a source told Pauline that “if the Jets want to trade or cut Mims, 31 teams in the league would line up for him.”
Additionally, Pauline has some more details on why Mims fell behind this offseason. Apparently he lost a ton of weight after having a bad reaction to antibiotics he was put on for food poisoning. That unfortunately left him “unable to participate in the offseason program properly.” Sources told Pauline that led him to fall behind on the installation of the new coaching staff’s offense.
Pauline says Mims is still a favorite of GM Joe Douglas, which will go a long way toward keeping him around. The Baylor product was limited to nine games as a rookie by a hamstring injury, but he was reasonably productive in those nine contests, finishing with 23 catches for 357 yards.
It sounds like Mims isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but he’ll still have his work cut out for him to get on the field. The Jets currently have at least free agent signees Corey Davis and Keelan Cole, veteran Jamison Crowder, and rookie Elijah Moore ahead of him in the pecking order.
Contract Details: Allen, Alexander, McCoy, Barkley
Let’s catch up on the details of some of the high-profile contracts given out recently:
- Josh Allen grabbed all the headlines by inking his mega-extension with the Bills. In an interesting piece, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com breaks down how it compares to the huge deal Patrick Mahomes recently signed with the Chiefs. For starters, Allen got a $16.5MM signing bonus, while Mahomes only got $10MM. Further, “the early cash flow for Allen is vastly superior to the Mahomes contract,” Florio writes. That’s because Mahomes’ deal is more back-loaded, while Allen is for example due $47MM in the second year of the pact. Mahomes’ contract is still worth more annually, but only because of the extra years at the end that his has. Through the first eight seasons of their respective deals, the compensation is nearly identical. Allen will clear $284.55MM through eight years, while Mahomes will get $285.33MM through the first eight years of his.
- Last week the Saints agreed to terms on a one-year deal with linebacker Kwon Alexander, and now we have all the financials. We heard at the time it was worth “up to” $3MM. It turns out to have a base value of only $1.127MM, not too much above the minimum for a player with his service time, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football tweets. He got $387.5K in guaranteed money. Alexander will get another $200K if he plays 50% of the snaps in 13 games, another $300K for 15 games, and another $400K for 17 games. He also has another $972K in other unspecified playing time incentives. New Orleans cut him back in March to save $13MM in cap space, so even if Alexander hits all his incentives he’ll have taken a fairly hefty pay-cut. That’s unfortunately what happens when you’re coming off an Achilles tear like Alexander is. He started all seven games that he played for the Saints last year before going down.
- Alexander wasn’t the only big name defensive player to sign last week, as defensive tackle Gerald McCoy also latched on with the Raiders. His one-year deal with Las Vegas is worth up to $2MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. He got a signing bonus of $150K and also has incentives worth $750K. The six-time Pro Bowler missed all of 2020 with a torn quad. Once one of the best interior linemen in the league, he turned 33 back in February.
- Matt Barkley resurfaced with the Titans to give them some insurance behind Ryan Tannehill, and he got $1.1MM on a one-year deal, Rapoport notes in the same tweet. Rapsheet didn’t specify, but it seems unlikely that much if any of it was guaranteed. Tennessee apparently wasn’t happy with only having Logan Woodside behind Tannehill. Shortly after signing Barkley, they released Deshone Kizer. Woodside and Barkley will now battle it out for clipboard-holding duties.
Titans To Sign Tedric Thompson
Another veteran defender is getting signed. Free agent safety Tedric Thompson has agreed to terms on a deal with the Titans, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
A fourth-round pick of the Seahawks back in 2017, Thompson spent his first three years in Seattle. He became a starter for them in his second season, and started 10 games in 2018. He entered 2019 as a starter, but missed over half the season after going down with a shoulder injury after six games.
Despite starting 16 games over those two seasons, Thompson was cut in March of 2020 after they failed to find a trade partner. For what it’s worth, he received very poor marks from Pro Football Focus during that 2019 campaign, and the team’s secondary improved after he left the lineup.
Thompson latched on with the Chiefs, but was cut after appearing in eight games with no starts. He then had brief stints with the Browns and Broncos, who cut him over the weekend. It didn’t take him too long to land on his feet. The secondary was a weakness for Tennessee last season, and they made overhauling it a priority.
They added high profile corners like Janoris Jenkins and first-rounder Caleb Farley, and are now adding a depth piece at safety. Thompson turned 26 in January.
Latest On Dolphins’ WRs
For years the Dolphins have lacked quality receivers, but now they actually have an abundance of depth at the position. It’s a good problem to have, but it also means that some solid players could be on the outside looking in when we get to roster cut-downs.
There’s a lot of uncertainty at the position and a lot to sort through, and fortunately Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald just broke it all down. Albert Wilson flashed a ton of potential during his first season with the Dolphins in 2018, but injuries hampered him then and in 2019. He then opted out of the 2020 season, leading many to believe he’d be on the roster bubble this time around. However, it appears that he’s safe. Wilson is “going to be on the team,” Jackson writes, noting he’s been the most consistent receiver in camp.
The same can’t be said for 2020 third-round pick Lynn Bowden. The Kentucky product has “gone from slight front-runner to make the team to very much on the bubble with an underwhelming camp,” despite being the 80th overall pick just last year. In 10 games and four starts last year, Bowden had 28 catches for 211 yards.
Meanwhile, there’s some bad news on Preston Williams. The 2019 UDFA has looked like a diamond in the rough find the past couple years, but he apparently isn’t over the Lisfranc foot injury that cut his 2020 short. Although the team “originally was optimistic that Williams would be fine to start the season,” the Colorado State product now “appears iffy at best” for Week 1.
Jackson writes that Williams is a candidate to start the year on the PUP list, which would sideline him for the first six games. He also says the “odds are against” veteran Allen Hurns making the 53, even though Hurns has $1.2MM in guaranteed money coming his way.
Jackson also expects the Dolphins to be open to a potential trade of Jakeem Grant if a team in need of a returner is willing to part with a late-round pick. In addition to all these guys, Miami still has Will Fuller, DeVante Parker, and rookie first-rounder Jaylen Waddle at the top of the depth chart.
Chiefs’ Laurent Duvernay-Tardif Out 4-6 Weeks
The Chiefs are the latest team to suffer a significant injury in training camp. Guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif broke a bone in his hand during practice and is out 4-6 weeks, sources told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
The good news, as Rapsheet notes, is that the injury won’t require surgery, “which means the opener is a very real possibility.” This injury also might’ve been a bigger deal had Kansas City not dramatically upgraded their offensive line this offseason. After watching Patrick Mahomes run for his life in the Super Bowl against the Bucs’ ferocious pass-rush, the team made it a priority to overhaul his O-line.
They traded for tackle Orlando Brown Jr., drafted center Creed Humphrey in the second-round, and signed veteran guards Austin Blythe and Kyle Long. LDT, of course, is perhaps most notable for being a doctor when he’s not battling it out in the NFL trenches, and he opted out of the 2020 season to help fight COVID-19.
Although he was a full-time starter for the Chiefs from 2015-19, Duvernay-Tardif wasn’t guaranteed his old job back even if he was fully healthy. We heard last month that he was battling it out with sixth-round rookie Trey Smith for a starting spot. This injury would seem to give Smith a pretty big leg up in that competition, so it’s highly possible Duvernay-Tardif starts the season as depth.