Eagles To Start Jalen Hurts, Bench Carson Wentz
Well it’s official, Carson Wentz is being sent to the bench. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson has made his decision and he’ll be starting Jalen Hurts under center for their Week 14 game against the Saints, sources told Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
It’s not a surprising move considering Hurts replaced Wentz during Sunday’s loss to the Packers and moved the ball much better, but it sure is a monumental one. Whether this is the end of Wentz’s run in Philly remains to be seen, as his contract now looms over the franchise. The second overall pick of the 2020 draft is due over $50MM in guaranteed money over the next two seasons after this one.
It’s very hard to envision him not being on the roster in 2021, unless the Eagles are willing to absorb a massive dead cap hit. They could look to trade him, although needless to say it won’t be easy to iron out a deal.It’s fair to say Philadelphia brass brought this quarterback controversy upon themselves by drafting Hurts in the second-round back in April. Whether that pick shattered Wentz’s confidence or whatever else, his play had regressed to atrocious levels. He leads the league in interceptions, and nobody else is even a close second.
It’s anyone’s guess what Hurts will look like in an offense with a shaky offensive line and inconsistent pass-catchers, but he can’t be any worse than Wentz statistically at this point. It’s possible Pederson is making this move now in an attempt to save his own job, as we heard a couple of days ago that the coach who won the Super Bowl just a few years ago is on the hot seat.
It’s a remarkable fall from grace for Wentz, as at this point last year he was being widely praised for helping the Eagles storm back and win the NFC East. It wasn’t too long ago that Wentz was considered an MVP candidate before going down with a torn ACL and LCL. But things change fast in the NFL, and unfortunately injuries robbed Wentz of the chance to have any memorable postseason moments with the team the past few seasons. There’s a lot still left to be written, but it looks like this could be the beginning of the end for Wentz in Philadelphia.
Hurts, the 53rd pick of April’s draft, accomplished a ton in college at both Alabama and Oklahoma. As ridiculous as it sounds, the 3-8-1 Eagles are still alive in the pitiful NFC East. It’ll be interesting to see if Hurts sparks something in this locker room, or if their struggles continue just as much as before.
Extra Points: 2021 Cap, Glennon, Fields
When the NFL and NFLPA reached an agreement earlier this year to play the 2021 season under unprecedented circumstances, it was settled that the 2021 salary cap would be no lower than $175MM. That still would’ve been a steep drop from the $198.2MM figure for 2020. Fortunately for the players, it looks like the NFLPA could avoid that doomsday scenario and then some, per Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. A source told Florio that the prospect of stadiums full of fans looking better for 2021 has the league office feeling a little more generous.
Florio writes that the “potential of a return to something normal or close to it” for 2021 could end up having the league keep the cap “in the range” of $195MM, which would mean practically no drop at all. Of course, with the ever-changing nature of COVID-19 and the current environment, there’s still a lot left to be determined. As Florio notes, the league won’t make its final decision until late February or early March, so there’s still plenty of time for things to change. This will be an interesting storyline to monitor as the offseason approaches.
Here’s more from around the league as Week 13 winds down:
- Mike Glennon and the Jaguars came up just short of a huge upset when they lost in overtime to the Vikings, but he apparently did enough to keep the job for another week. Glennon will start for Jacksonville in Week 14, head coach Doug Marrone said after the game. Glennon moved the ball decently against Minnesota, but turned the ball over three times. That still wasn’t enough for Marrone to turn back to Gardner Minshew. “I think he still gives us the best chance to win as of right now so I’m going to stick with him right now for this week,” Marrone said, per John Oehser of the team’s official site. As you can see, Marrone certainly didn’t commit to him for the rest of the season and it wouldn’t be surprising if Minshew gets the call at any time. The 1-11 Jags have lost 11 in a row, although four of their last five losses have been by four points or fewer. Glennon, Minshew, and sixth-round rookie Jake Luton have all started multiple games in this disastrous campaign.
- Speaking of the Jags, they are one of several teams likely to be looking for a quarterback in the first-round of this coming April’s draft. It’s looking like an excellent class of passers, with Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State’s Justin Fields clearly at the top. While they’re considered by many to be the top two picks in the draft, Lawrence will be “graded significantly higher” by scouts than Fields, Tony Pauline of ProFootballNetwork.com writes. That probably won’t surprise you, but what Pauline said next might. The long-time draft insider writes that Fields will grade higher on teams’ boards than 2020 first overall pick Joe Burrow. The only reason Lawrence will be clearly ahead of Fields is since Lawrence is viewed as the best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck. If Fields is going to be considered a better pro prospect than the highly touted Burrow, getting the second overall pick instead of first might not be that bad for Jacksonville or whoever else.
Extra Points: Sherman, Wentz, Rivers
Richard Sherman made a triumphant return to the 49ers last week, picking off Jared Goff to help upset the Rams in a must-win game. The star cornerback wasn’t basking in the glow of that victory this week though, as he bluntly talked about his future with Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports. In the interview, Sherman said he doesn’t expect to be back in San Francisco next season. “We’ve had brief conversations,” Sherman said about a new contract. “I think that there’s obviously a want from both sides to come back and make this work. Unfortunately, I don’t know that the circumstances will allow it.” Expounding further, Sherman made it clear that the 49ers are going to have to extend a lot of their core guys soon, and there simply might not be enough money left over for him.
“There are a ton of guys that need to be paid and are coming up,” he said. “Fred Warner is coming up. There are, like, 40 free agents who need to be re-signed. At the end of the day, they have to do what’s best for the majority, for the team. And I got to understand that. And so the numbers are adding up to that I won’t be here, unless something miraculous happens, which would be really cool.” Sherman, who serves as his own agent, doesn’t seem to harbor any hard feelings about this potential reality. It’s a mature and nuanced take for a star player to have. The former Seahawks All-Pro has remained very productive since joining the 49ers in 2018, but he’s missed almost all of this season with a calf injury. He’ll be a free agent in March.
- The big story of Week 13 so far has been the benching of Carson Wentz. Doug Pederson finally pulled the plug and inserted Jalen Hurts in the second half of Philly’s loss to Green Bay, and the rookie immediately provided a spark. He threw for a touchdown on a fourth and 19, and moved the offense much better than Wentz did even though he did have a game-sealing interception at the end. But speaking after the finish, Pederson wasn’t ready to announce his plans for Week 14. In his post-game press conference, the Super Bowl winning coach declined to name a starter and insisted his mind wasn’t made up yet. That being said, it would be pretty shocking if it wasn’t Hurts. When a coach declines to say his usual starter will be out there the next week, he almost always ends up getting replaced during the week. With more than $50MM in guaranteed money still coming his way over the next couple years, it’s anyone’s guess what the Eagles will do with Wentz, who leads the league in interceptions with 15.
- Philip Rivers led the Colts to their eighth win of the season Sunday, beating the Texans and moving back into a tie for first place in the AFC South. But although he’ll continue to play, Rivers is apparently dealing with a very significant injury. The veteran passer is dealing with a “plantar plate rupture” in his foot, which can essentially be described as a really bad case of turf toe, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports (Twitter video link). Rapoport adds that it’s bad enough that Rivers will need surgery after the season to fix it. It sounds like the kind of injury that could sideline some players, but not the Iron Man Rivers. Incredibly, the signal-caller has never missed a start since taking over the Chargers’ job all the way back in 2006. Considering he once played a playoff game on a torn ACL, this isn’t too surprising. It didn’t seem to effect him all that much on Sunday, as he carved up Houston for 285 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers.
- In case you missed it, Titans first-round tackle Isaiah Wilson’s disaster of a rookie season got even worse this weekend when the team suspended him for violating team rules.
Eagles Bench Carson Wentz
Many Eagles fans have been clamoring for this for a while now, and they finally got their wish. Doug Pederson benched quarterback Carson Wentz during the team’s game against the Packers Sunday.
Jalen Hurts took over under center. At first it looked like Hurts might just be coming out as part of his usual gadget package, but Pederson let him play an entire drive. Then Hurts was back out there to start the next series, confirming that Wentz had been benched. While it’s a move that arguably had to be made, it also raises more questions than it answers moving forward. Wentz has well over $50MM in guaranteed money still coming his way between 2021 and 2022, and there’s no good way out of his contract for a while.
If Hurts is made the full-time starter, Wentz will obviously be an extraordinarily expensive backup. The former second overall pick regressed mightily this season, and currently leads the NFL with a whopping 15 interceptions. Nobody else in the league had more than 11 entering this week. Wentz was once again disastrous against Green Bay before getting pulled, completing only six of 15 passes.
Pederson has clearly been mulling this decision for a while, as we heard before their Week 12 game that Hurts was getting more reps in practice and would see his heaviest usage yet last week on Monday Night Football. That didn’t materialize as Hurts played sparingly in the loss to the Seahawks, but the next week he finally pulled the trigger.
The Eagles are still alive in the race for the pitiful NFC East, but things are slipping away fast. The team is at a crossroads, and it’ll be very interesting to see how the front office manages this whole situation moving forward. We’ll update you as soon as we hear more on the situation, and about who will start in Week 14 against the Saints.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/6/20
A couple of minor moves from the past day to pass along:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Placed on reserve/COVID list: DE Amani Bledsoe
Houston Texans
- Placed on IR: FB Cullen Gillaspia
- Activated from IR: RB David Johnson, LB Kyle Emanuel
Bledsoe tested positive for COVID-19 this morning, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets, although obviously there wasn’t enough concern to cancel their game against the Dolphins. Bledsoe had been playing a big role on Cincy’s reshuffled defensive line in recent weeks, notching almost half the defensive snaps. Johnson and Emanuel both missed a few games with concussions and returned for Houston today.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/1/20
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Activated from IR: DL Rashard Lawrence
Baltimore Ravens
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: CB Khalil Dorsey, QB Trace McSorley, DT Brandon Williams, CB Tavon Young
Denver Broncos
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: QB Blake Bortles, QB Drew Lock, QB Brett Rypien
Green Bay Packers
- Waived: WR Darrius Shepherd
Minnesota Vikings
- Waived: LS Austin Cutting, LB Hardy Nickerson
New York Giants
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: T Matt Peart, WR Dante Pettis, TE Kaden Smith
- Waived: S Montre Hartage, K Ryan Santoso
Philadelphia Eagles
- Promoted: S Grayland Arnold
San Francisco 49ers
- Placed on IR: CB Jamar Taylor (story), CB Ken Webster
- Waived: S Chris Edwards
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: LB Will Compton
Giants Place LB Kyler Fackrell On IR
The Giants might be without quarterback Daniel Jones for a little bit, and it turns out Jones wasn’t the only significant player to go down during their win over the Bengals. The team has placed linebacker Kyler Fackrell on injured reserve with a calf injury, they announced Tuesday.
That means Fackrell will need to miss at least the next three games as the Giants make their push for the NFC East title. He’s played a big role in New York’s revitalized defense, appearing in all 11 games while starting eight and playing over 76 percent of the defensive snaps. He has three sacks on the year, tied for second-most on the team behind only Leonard Williams. The Utah State product landed a one-year, $4.6MM deal from Big Blue this offseason.
He entered the league as a third-round pick of the Packers in 2016, and was mostly quiet his first couple of years. He came out of nowhere in 2018 to have a breakout season and rack up 10.5 sacks, although he came back down to earth in 2019 with only one.
In addition to his three sacks this year, he also has 31 tackles, a forced fumble, two passes defended, and an interception which he returned for a touchdown. This is a big loss moving forward for a team with little margin for error.
Falcons Sign Laquon Treadwell To 53
A former first-rounder is back on an active roster. Receiver Laquon Treadwell has been activated off the practice squad COVID list and signed to the Falcons’ 53-man roster, the team announced Tuesday.
Fellow receiver Olamide Zaccheaus was placed on injured reserve with a toe injury in a corresponding roster move. The Vikings drafted Treadwell 23rd overall in 2016, but obviously that pick never panned out. He caught only one pass as a rookie, and never topped 302 yards during his four years in Minnesota. After his rookie deal expired (with his fifth-year option not being picked up), he signed with Atlanta back in March.
He was waived at final cuts, but quickly added back to the practice squad. Now with Zaccheaus headed to IR and Julio Jones nursing a hamstring injury that kept him on the sidelines in Week 12, Treadwell could manage to get some playing time. Still only 25, it’s nice to see the Ole Miss product get another opportunity.
Zaccheaus is a 2019 UDFA from Virginia. He made the 53-man roster as a rookie but played mostly on special teams, catching three passes for 115 yards. This time around he’d been playing a bigger role, and had a couple of huge games in Weeks 4 and 9 when he went off for 86 and 103 yards respectively. The unheralded wideout will be eligible to return in Week 16. If he doesn’t make it back, he’ll finish his sophomore campaign with 20 catches for 274 yards and a touchdown while making two starts.
Eagles Cut S Will Parks
In the wake of yet another disappointing defeat last night, the Eagles are making a change on defense. Philly is releasing safety Will Parks, a source told James Palmer of NFL Network (Twitter link).
Parks was in his first year with the team after signing a one-year, $1.6MM deal back in March. He suffered a hamstring injury right before the season started that caused him to miss the first handful of games, but he returned in Week 6 and started the game. His playing time dipped a bit after that, although he still started three games and played in all six he was active. He played only ten defensive snaps against the Seahawks last night, and apparently that was the final straw.
The timing is a bit odd, as it’s not like Parks has been noticeably terrible, and it’s possible there’s something behind the scenes at play here. That being said they’ve apparently wanted him gone for a bit, as Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets they tried to trade him at the deadline but found no takers.
The Vikings apparently offered Parks more money back in March, as Minnesota beat writer Darren Wolfson tweets. Wolfson also notes they had interest in trading for him at the deadline, so they’ll be a team to watch as Parks now hits waivers. A Philadelphia native, Parks took a discount to return home but it obviously didn’t work out.
A sixth-round pick of the Broncos in 2016, Parks became a real contributor in Denver and started seven games last year. He finished with 35 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, two passes defended, and an interception in 14 games in 2019. The Arizona product is only 26 and will likely get scooped up by somebody before the end of the year.
49ers’ Dee Ford, Weston Richburg, Ronald Blair Not Expected To Play Again This Year
The hits just keep on coming for a banged up 49ers team that will now be playing it’s home games in Arizona. Defensive ends Dee Ford and Ronald Blair as well as center Weston Richburg all aren’t expected to play the rest of the season, head coach Kyle Shanahan said during his Tuesday press conference.
Back in late October Shanahan had said Ford wouldn’t return until Week 12 at the earliest, but now the team is shutting him down. Richburg was eligible to return from the PUP list after Week 6, and the last we heard about him was in October as well when it was reported he was likely a few weeks away. Blair also was on the PUP list to start the year, and the team had initially hoped to have him back for the start of the season. Shanahan said both Blair and Richburg suffered serious setbacks during their respective recoveries.
Richburg suffered a torn patellar tendon late last year while Blair went down with an ACL tear in November, and both apparently experienced complications. Richburg was the team’s full-time starter at center in 2018 and 2019, and his absence has left a big hole along the offensive line. Blair has played a rotational role as a pass-rusher since the 49ers drafted him in 2016, and he certainly could’ve been used this season as San Francisco experienced a rash of injuries up front, including an ACL tear for Nick Bosa.
Ford has been a big disappointment and unable to stay on the field since the 49ers traded a second-round pick for him and signed him to a new five-year, $87.5MM deal in March of 2019. He played in only 11 games last season and just one this time around after what has proved to be a disastrous trade.
Ford is signed through the 2023 season at over $15MM annually, but the 49ers can get out of his contract without taking too much of a hit this offseason. The team shopped him this past offseason, but it’s doubtful anyone is looking to take on that contract now. Ford had 13 sacks and led the league in forced fumbles as recently as 2018, but his stock has taken a big hit the past couple years. Hopefully he can get healthy and back to his old self soon. In the meantime, unless he’s willing to take a paycut, he’s likely played his last down with the 49ers.