Patriots DT Beau Allen Won’t Play In 2020
The Patriots have fallen to 2-5 after their fourth straight loss Sunday, and the hits keep on coming. Defensive tackle Beau Allen won’t play this season, head coach Bill Belichick announced Monday.
New England signed Allen to a two-year, $8MM deal back in March, and he won’t end up playing a down in 2020. The Patriots signed the big run-stuffer to help replace Danny Shelton, who signed with Detroit, but they placed him on injured reserve at the beginning of the season. It’s never been clear exactly what injury Allen is dealing with, and we still don’t have that information, so there’s some mystery here.
Without the projected starter the Patriots have been thin on the interior, and they’ve struggled to stop the run as a result, giving up the sixth-most rushing yards per game. A seventh-round pick of the Eagles in 2014 Allen spent his first four years in Philly, winning Super Bowl LII with the team. He then signed a three-year, $15MM deal with Tampa Bay in 2018, although the last year of that contract was voided.
Packers Expressed Interest In Antonio Brown
Antonio Brown has, of course, been reunited with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay. But before he signed the Buccaneers apparently weren’t the only NFC contender to express interest. 
The Packers made a call and “checked in” with Brown to “see if he would have any interest in going to Green Bay,” Adam Schefter of ESPN.com said Monday during an appearance on the Pat McAfee show (Twitter video link). Schefter makes clear that nothing was ever particularly close to happening, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Schefter reported a couple of weeks ago that a number of teams were digging into him, and it sounds like the Packers were one of those.
The Seahawks publicly acknowledged their interest a couple of times, and before now they were the only other identified suitor. Green Bay has struggled to find a consistent number two option in their passing game behind Davante Adams, so their interest makes sense.
The Packers are widely believed to be poking around available receivers ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline, and they reportedly inquired on the Texans’ Will Fuller recently. It looks like Brown’s first choice was always to join Brady in Tampa, and nothing was going to sway him off that.Depending on how the embattled former All-Pro pans out with the Bucs, Packers fans will either be bummed they missed out or relieved that they dodged a bullet.
The Packers aren’t known as an organization that likes to take the most risks, and the fact that they reached out at all is a sign of the slightly more aggressive path new GM Brian Gutekunst has chosen after taking over a couple of seasons ago. Brown is eligible to make his 2020 debut this coming week against he Saints on Sunday Night Football after completing his eight-game suspension.
Ravens LT Ronnie Stanley Done For Season
The Ravens fell two games behind the Steelers in the AFC North with their loss Sunday, and they got some even worse news immediately after the game. Head coach John Harbaugh announced to reporters that left tackle Ronnie Stanley would miss the rest of the season with a “severe ankle injury.” The official diagnosis: A fractured and dislocated ankle that also likely includes torn ligaments (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Although he faces a long road to recovery, Stanley is expected to be back and ready in time for the 2021 season. 
It’s an especially brutal blow for a team that has built its identity around dominating in the trenches. Stanley had been pretty durable up to this point, starting at least 14 games each of the past three seasons. Fortunately for Stanley he wrapped up his long-term financial security just in the nick of time, as he signed a five-year, $99 million extension only a couple of days ago. If it had to happen, at least he got paid first.
The Notre Dame product was drafted sixth overall back in 2016, and the high draft pick has panned out for Baltimore. He was outstanding last season, earning first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections. When Stanley went down 2018 third-rounder Orlando Brown Jr. slid over from right tackle to left, with veteran D.J. Fluker taking over from Brown.
Presumably that’ll be the situation moving forward, with Brown manning Lamar Jackson‘s blindside. Stanley is only 26, and should still just be entering the prime of his career. Even assuming it’s a bad fracture with his ankle, there’s no reason to believe he won’t be 100 percent by the time the 2021 season rolls around.
Jets Trade Avery Williamson To Steelers
With a couple of days left until the deadline, we’ve got news of another major trade to pass along. The Jets are going to trade linebacker Avery Williamson to the Steelers.
Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News was the first to tweet that a deal was in the works, and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network quickly confirmed that the trade was in fact happening (Twitter link). Pittsburgh will send New York a 2022 fifth-rounder and get back a 2022 seventh-rounder, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Williamson will provide needed reinforcements at inside linebacker after the Steelers just lost stud Devin Bush for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
Pittsburgh is the last undefeated team in the league and they’re looking like legit Super Bowl contenders, so it’s not surprising that they’re being aggressive. It makes plenty of sense for the 0-8 Jets as well, as New York is looking to sell off veteran assets in exchange for whatever draft capital they can get.
A fifth-round pick of the Titans back in 2014, Williamson signed a three-year, $22.5MM pact with the Jets in the 2018 offseason. He started all 16 games for New York that year, racking up a whopping 120 tackles, before missing all of last season with a torn ACL. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this offseason and with Bush coming back in 2021, this will likely be a short-term rental.
The Jets have already shipped out Steve McLendon and Jordan Willis, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see things devolve into a full-blown fire sale in the next couple of days.
Saints’ Sheldon Rankins To Miss A Few Weeks
Sheldon Rankins is hitting the shelf again. The Saints’ defensive tackle suffered an MCL injury during Sunday’s win over the Bears, a source tells Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football (Twitter link).
The source told Underhill it’s expected to knock the run-stuffer out for “about three weeks.” It’s a big blow to a New Orleans defensive front that is usually elite at stopping the run. The 12th overall pick of the 2016 draft, Rankins has developed into a quality starter for the Saints. This is unfortunately his third straight year with a significant injury, as first he tore an Achilles during the 2018 playoffs.
He missed the first few games of the 2019 season while recovering from that, then missed the last few with an ankle injury. His best season was that 2018 campaign when he also made a lot of noise as a pass-rusher, notching eight sacks from the interior.
The Louisville product is playing out the exercised fifth-year option on his rookie contract, and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.
Latest On Dolphins’ Decision To Start Tua Tagovailoa
The Dolphins started the Tua Tagovailoa era off with a bang, upsetting the Rams 28-17. While Tagovailoa wasn’t asked to do much thanks to a dominant day from Miami’s defense and finished with only 93 yards, Brian Flores‘ decision to bench Ryan Fitzpatrick for the rookie certainly didn’t backfire.
Speaking of that decision, we now have some more details on the Dolphins’ thought process. The fact that Miami owns the Texans’ first and second-round draft picks next April played a role, sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. With the way Houston is circling the drain at 1-6, those picks figure to be very high. Apparently the Dolphins wanted to make sure they got an extra long look at Tagovailoa just in case they’re in position to take a top quarterback in the 2021 draft.
That reporting would seem to indicate that if Tagovailoa flops down the stretch, Miami very easily could draft another signal-caller next year. Unless the Texans finish with the first overall pick they likely won’t be able to get Trevor Lawrence, but Ohio State’s Justin Fields would be a very real possibility. The Dolphins of course just drafted Tagovailoa with the fifth pick this past year, but the situation certainly wouldn’t be unprecedented after the Cardinals just jettisoned Josh Rosen after only one year to draft Kyler Murray.
The Dolphins own those picks from the trade of left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Owners can often get trigger happy with a desire to satisfy fans and play the more exciting option, but despite some speculation to the contrary Dolphins owner Stephen Ross played no role in the decision to move to Tagovailoa, a source told Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald.
This wasn’t a spontaneous decision either, as Salguero writes that Flores and general manager Chris Grier had already made the plan for the bye-week switch before the team’s win over the Jets in Week 6. Next up for Miami is a date with the Cardinals for Tagovailoa’s first career road start.
Cardinals Have Two Positive COVID-19 Tests
UPDATE, 11/2/20 3:45pm: Cardinals linebacker Devon Kennard was one of the two players to test positive, he announced in a tweet Monday. “I learned that like many others, I have tested positive for Covid 19. Thankfully, I feel completely normal so far. Please keep my family & I in your prayers as we navigate this. I look forward to being back on the field w/my teammates as soon as I am cleared & it’s safe to do so!,” he said. All of us here at the Rumors family of course wish Kennard a full and speedy recovery. The starter will be sidelined for at least this week’s game against the Dolphins.
11/1/20 6:22pm: We’ve got a new team to unfortunately be hit with COVID-19 positives, this time in the desert. The Cardinals had two players test positive for the virus over the weekend, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets.
Luckily for Arizona they were on a bye this week, so it hasn’t disrupted them too much so far. Garafolo notes that they just kept the facility closed today for a deep cleaning, and that they’re slated to practice tomorrow. There are enhanced practice protocols for any team with positive tests, and presumably the Cardinals will be following those moving forward.
We don’t have word yet on who the players are, but we’ll be sure to pass that along whenever it’s reported. The Cardinals, who have gotten off to an impressive 5-2 start, are set to host the Dolphins in Week 9.
Raiders’ Trent Brown Hospitalized
Raiders tackle Trent Brown was suddenly ruled out shortly before his team’s game against the Browns, and now we know why.
Something went wrong with the IV Brown was getting pre-game, which caused air to get into his bloodstream, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. Obviously that’s an extremely serious situation, and Rapoport writes that he required immediate medical attention and was hospitalized. He adds that Browns is going to stay in the hospital overnight to undergo further tests.
Details are still light, but fortunately it sounds like he’s going to be alright. Brown of course was just recently activated from the COVID-19 list after catching the virus, and was set to make his return today. This incident will certainly garner comparisons to the Chargers’ team doctors accidentally puncturing Tyrod Taylor‘s lung earlier this year.
Brown went down with a calf injury in Las Vegas’ opener, and missed the next three games. He returned for their win over the Chiefs before landing on the COVID-19 list. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear more, and obviously our thoughts are with Brown right now.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/27/20
We’ll keep track of the practice squad moves from the past day here:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: CB De’Vante Bausby
Baltimore Ravens
- Released: S Marcus Gilchrist
Carolina Panthers
- Released: CB Josh Hawkins
Chicago Bears
- Signed: WR Dwayne Harris
- Released: DT Terry Beckner
Cincinnati Bengals
- Released: CB Jalen Davis
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: OT Alex Taylor
- Released: DE Jalen Jelks
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: P Hunter Niswander
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Released: T Jared Hilbers
Kansas City Chiefs
- Released: QB Jordan Ta’amu
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: DB Kemah Siverand
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: K Austin MacGinnis
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: CB Marcus Sayles
- Released: LB Cale Garrett
New England Patriots
- Signed: T Jordan Steckler
- Released: G Jordan Roos
New York Giants
- Signed: WR Corey Coleman, DB Montre Hartage, TE Rysen John
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: WR Anthony Johnson
- Released: WR Amara Darboh
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: OL Tony Bergstrom, DL Willie Henry
- Released: CB Brian Allen, OL Cody Conway, DL Adam Shuler
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: OL Paul Adams, LB Will Compton
Washington Football Team
- Released: DE Gerri Green, DB Manny Patterson, LB Donald Payne
Rams Release K Sam Sloman
Sam Sloman‘s time as the Rams’ kicker has come to an end after seven games. Los Angeles is cutting the rookie, the team announced Tuesday.
The Rams signed veteran Kai Forbath last week after Sloman struggled out of the gates, but the rookie got one more shot to prove himself on Monday Night Football last night. Low kicks have been an issue for him all season as he’s gotten several blocked, and a blocked 48-yarder against the Bears likely sealed his fate.
The Rams drafted Sloman in the seventh-round this past April to replace Greg Zuerlein, who had been their kicker for the previous eight seasons before signing with Dallas this offseason. The Miami of Ohio product will finish his first NFL stint having gone 8/11 on field goals with a long of only 42 while missing three of his 21 extra point attempts.
The kicking game has been an issue all season long, and the Rams probably wish they had Zuerlein back right about now. Forbath has plenty of experience and looked pretty good with the Cowboys down the stretch last season, so hopefully he’ll provide some more stability at the position.