Nevin Lawson Suspended One Game
Myles Garrett is no longer the only player to be suspended for using his helmet as a weapon this season. Raiders cornerback Nevin Lawson has been suspended one game for wielding a helmet during Oakland’s Week 17 loss to Denver, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
Since the Raiders aren’t in the playoffs, Lawson will have to sit out the first game of the 2020 season. Lawson was already suspended four games at the beginning of the season for taking a banned substance. He ended up appearing in 11 games for Oakland, making five starts. He signed a one-year deal worth just over $3MM with the Raiders back in March, so he’ll be a free agent again this spring.
Lawson was originally drafted by the Lions in the fourth round back in 2014. He spent the first five years of his career there, and became a full-time starter in Detroit for the last three. The Utah State product has started 50 games over the past four years and is still only 28, so even with the suspension he should draw some mild interest on the open market.
D’Andre Swift Declares For Draft
One of the top skill position players in college football is foregoing his final year of college eligibility and entering the draft. Georgia running back D’Andre Swift is leaving school early, he announced on Twitter.
Judging from recent mock drafts and projections, Swift has a good chance to hear his name called in the first round, and he is also viewed by many analysts as the top running back prospect in the 2020 draft. He might be competing with fellow recent early entrant J.K. Dobbins to be the first runner off the board. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report tweeted soon after the news broke that he has Swift as a first-rounder on his board.
Swift averaged a ridiculous 7.6 yards per carry as a freshman in 2017, and has dominated in each of his three collegiate seasons. This past year he rushed for 1,218 yards and seven touchdowns while adding 24 catches for an additional 216 yards through the air. He earned all sorts of accolades during his college career, and was recently named a first-team All-SEC selection.
Lions’ Damon Harrison Contemplating Retirement
The Lions wrapped up their disappointing 2019 campaign Sunday, and it might’ve been the last ever game for one notable veteran. Speaking to reporters after their loss to Green Bay, Damon Harrison said he’s seriously considering retiring, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
‘Snacks’ as the defensive tackle is affectionately known, said he’s been dealing with several injuries and might have to have surgery. “I got too much pride, man. I’ve been doing this too long. So if I can’t be the player that I’m used to being, I think my teammates deserve better, my family deserves better … I never cheated the game a day of my life, man,” an emotional Harrison said as he reportedly fought back tears.
“My mind’s still telling me I can do it,” he said, “but my body’s just not good.” Harrison had been with the Giants for the past few seasons before he was traded to Detroit last year. He played great after initially joining the Lions, and was one of the league’s better run stuffers for a while. A first-team All-Pro selection in 2016, his play had fallen off significantly this year as he battled injuries.
“But if I do walk away, I’m not ashamed,” he continued. “I don’t feel bad because I gave it everything I had, even when it wasn’t good enough.” Harrison is under contract for $8.5MM next season, but the Lions might not be inclined to bring him back at that price. The 31-year-old signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent back in 2012, and if this is it for him, he carved out a heck of a career.
Chiefs S Juan Thornhill Tears ACL
The Chiefs had a big Sunday, picking up a first-round bye in the playoffs thanks to their win over the Chargers and the Dolphins’ upset of the Patriots. Unfortunately they didn’t escape Week 17 unscathed, as starting safety Juan Thornhill went down with a knee injury that was later revealed to be a torn ACL, per Adam Teicher of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Needless to say, the injury will keep Thornhill out of the playoffs. The Chiefs drafted Thornhill in the second round back in April, and he started all 16 regular season games for them. The rookie was a huge part of the defense, playing an every-snap role. Kansas City’s pass defense has quietly been playing really well this season, and Thornhill had formed a great safety duo with veteran Tyrann Mathieu.
Thornhill will finish his first season as a pro with 59 tackles and three interceptions. It’s a big blow as the Chiefs gear up for their playoff run. The Virginia product’s absence will leave a huge hole in a defense that had been peaking recently.
Ron Rivera To Meet With Redskins Monday
The Ron Rivera to the Redskins buzz continues to heat up. Rivera will meet with Washington brass about their head coaching vacancy Monday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). The Redskins want Rivera, and they hope to complete a deal with him on Monday, “before any other teams become involved,” a source told Mark Maske of the Washington Post (Twitter link). Maske later tweeted that there’s a “growing belief” that a deal will get done Monday, barring any last-minute complications. 
We heard yesterday that the Redskins were interested in the former Panthers coach, and the interest is apparently mutual. Washington started the year off with Jay Gruden as coach, but fired him early on. They’ve been linked to a number of high profile coaches since then, including Urban Meyer and Marvin Lewis. There was a recent report that Rivera was telling people close to him that a deal could come together quickly, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s Washington’s new head coach by the end of tomorrow.
Rivera had been in Carolina for the past nine seasons before being canned with a handful of games to go. Nearly immediately after his firing, reports emerged that he wouldn’t be out of a job too long. It’s going to be an offseason of change for Washington, as front office head Bruce Allen also appears to be on his way out.
The Redskins have been a dumpster fire the past couple of years, but there are some bright spots. Rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins made major strides down the stretch, and rookie receiver Terry McLaurin looks like a star in the making. We should know more about Rivera’s future very soon.
Browns Fire Freddie Kitchens
The Freddie Kitchens era in Cleveland is over after just one season. The Browns fired their rookie head coach Sunday, according to Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Browns are now officially the third team to can their head coach, and more will be coming shortly.
Kitchens’ firing represents an epic rise and fall, as he rose from a little known position coach to be the head man in Cleveland. He started last year as the Browns’ running backs coach, then took over as offensive coordinator after Todd Haley was fired. Baker Mayfield had a lot of success during the second half of 2018 for which Kitchens received a ton of credit, and GM John Dorsey gave him the full-time job to succeed Hue Jackson after the season.
The Kitchens era started off with a lot of fanfare. Cleveland had an eventful offseason, completing a blockbuster trade for Odell Beckham Jr., and there was an absurd amount of hype surrounding the team. Expectations got so high that it would’ve been hard for anyone to deliver, but Kitchens’ tenure was still a disaster by any standard. Things got off to a terrible start with a blowout loss to the Titans in their opener, and they never recovered.
Mayfield regressed considerably, and Beckham was never able to get fully integrated into the offense. There were a number of incidents that created the perception that Kitchens had lost control of the team, like Myles Garrett‘s indefinite suspension or Beckham reportedly telling other teams to ‘come get him.’
It had been widely reported that Kitchens was on the hot seat, and an embarrassing loss to the Bengals in Week 17 seemed to seal his fate. It still came as a surprise to him though, as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets that an “emotional” Kitchens told him on the phone that he “believed he had organizational support.”
Kitchens was in a meeting with owner Jimmy Haslam and Dorsey, a source told Josina Anderson of ESPN.com, which would seem to indicate Dorsey is safe despite some recent speculation to the contrary. Dorsey later issued a statement through the Browns on Twitter, confirming he isn’t going anywhere.
Oklahoma WR CeeDee Lamb Enters Draft
The 2020 NFL Draft picked up another top prospect Sunday. Oklahoma receiver CeeDee Lamb will forego his final season of college eligibility and enter the draft, he announced in a tweet.
Lamb is considered by many to be the top available wideout, and is almost certainly going to be a first-round pick in April. As things stand right now, he appears to have a good shot at being a top ten selection. Lamb became a key player for the Sooners as a freshman, and has dominated the past couple of seasons. This year with Jalen Hurts throwing to him, Lamb racked up 1,327 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also averaged an impressive 21.4 yards per reception.
He had 119 yards in Oklahoma’s College Football Playoff loss to LSU. There are plenty of teams who could use receiver help, and this is considered a very good class for pass-catchers. Unlike last year when no receivers were taken in the top 24 picks, wideouts could be flying off the board this time around.
Interested Teams To Hold Off On Antonio Brown
The Saints won’t be signing Antonio Brown for now, and it appears there are some other interested teams who are taking a wait and see approach. Brown’s agent Drew Rosenhaus has said there are three teams interested in his client, with one of them obviously being New Orleans.
Both of the other teams that are interested in the embattled receiver have “made clear they would want to talk further with him after the conclusion of the NFL investigation,” per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Fowler adds that “anything before that is considered a non-starter.” Considering there’s nothing to suggest the league’s investigation is close to wrapping up, it doesn’t sound like Brown will be signed anytime soon. Were a team to ink Brown before the investigation is over, he would likely be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list, rendering him unable to play.
Brown is quite possibly facing a significant suspension from Roger Goodell, and the earliest we’re going to see him on the field is almost certainly 2020 despite the Saints’ surprise workout. All that being said, Fowler’s report does seem to confirm that there are indeed other teams out there with legit interest. How Brown answers the questions that franchises are obviously going to have will go a long way in determining whether one of them gives him another shot.
Coaching Rumors: Jaguars, Browns, Panthers, Patriots
The 2019 regular season is winding down, which means the coaching carousel is about to start ramping up. Earlier today the Falcons announced Dan Quinn would be back for 2020, crossing one potential opening off the list. This is shaping up to be a potentially quiet year in terms of number of coaches fired, but there should still be a good amount of action. One man still on the hot seat is the Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone. The latest reporting indicated the Jags were leaning toward keeping Marrone and GM Dave Caldwell, and we have more info to back that up now. Tony Khan, the team’s EVP and son of owner Shad Khan, is expected to take on an increased role in the organization, according to Albert Breer of SI.com.
That’s good news for Marrone and Caldwell, since Breer writes that the younger Khan has a good relationship with both. He further adds that “things are trending toward” the duo “surviving the weekend.” Tom Coughlin, the team’s head of football operations, was fired recently and has been taking the brunt of the blame for the organization’s spiral.
Here’s the latest from around the league:
- There’s been a lot of speculation that Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens could be one and done, as Cleveland has been a dumpster fire all year long. Breer writes that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam initially seemed inclined to keep him around for a second year, but that recently Haslam has “kept his cards closer to the vest.” Even if Kitchens survives, Breer says he expects there to be significant changes to his staff. It’s been “an open secret that offensive coordinator Todd Monken hasn’t been happy” this season, he reports. How the Browns fare in Week 17 against the 1-14 Bengals could go a long way in determining Kitchens’ future.
- Everyone that Breer has talked to indicated that the Panthers are going to conduct an extensive search for Ron Rivera’s replacement. Notably, Breer has learned that the search is expected to include a college coach or two. Baylor coach Matt Rhule and Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley have been two college coaches heavily linked to NFL jobs recently. New owner David Tepper is looking to put his stamp on the team, and it’ll be very interesting to see which direction he heads. He’s been very keen on analytics, so a younger offensive-minded hire wouldn’t be surprising. Further, Breer writes to “keep an eye out” for Josh McDaniels and the Panthers. The Patriots offensive coordinator nearly took the Colts’ job two cycles ago, and will be a hot name again this time around. Whoever the Panthers hire “will have considerable say over the football operation, in areas like strength-and-conditioning, training and video,” Breer reports.
- Speaking of the Patriots, Nick Caserio isn’t the only exec in their building who could get poached. Breer speculates that McDaniels could try to lure pro personnel director Dave Ziegler with him if he leaves to become a head coach. Given that Caserio and director of college scouting Monti Ossenfort are both on expiring contracts, Breer thinks the Pats might work hard to retain Ziegler.
Cowboys LB Sean Lee Undecided On Playing Next Year
As Week 17 approaches, it looks like the Cowboys are going to miss the playoffs, barring a Giants upset of the Eagles. If they’re eliminated, longtime head coach Jason Garrett is expected to get the boot shortly after. That might not be the only major change Dallas sees this offseason, as there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding some key players. 
One of those is veteran linebacker Sean Lee, who was rumored to be considering retirement last year. He ultimately decided to come back, and will play in 16 games in 2019 for the first time in his career. The Penn State product is undecided about whether he wants to play in 2020, and elaborated on his process in some recent comments to the media. “If I do want to play again, you want to be a part of the entire offseason, which really kind of starts mid-March for me,” Lee said, via Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. “And so that’s probably when I would make a decision.”
Lee’s contract is set to expire at the end of the year, and it sounds like he wants to inform the team of his decision before free agency starts, so don’t expect a prolonged process. “I’m happy that I was able to be consistently on the field and in a lot of situations, being able to help and being effective. That was a plus for me, and that will be part of the evaluation, obviously,” he said.
That last statement would seem to indicate he feels like he’s got something left in the tank. Lee has been plagued by injuries in recent years though, only playing in seven games last year and 11 the season before. He started the year off as a part-time player but has been counted on for a much larger role recently with younger linebacker Leighton Vander Esch on the shelf.
Lee is a franchise icon, and it’ll be interesting to see what path he takes. The Cowboys will almost certainly be entering a new era next season, and Lee could decide to return for one more run at a Super Bowl or to hang them up as the team starts over. Lee has functioned as somewhat of a coach when banged up the past couple years, and it’s entirely possible he’ll transition to coaching when he does decide to retire.