Cliff Avril Not Thinking Retirement
Retirement is reportedly on the table for the Seahawks’ Cliff Avril, but that’s news to the injured defensive end. Avril told Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports on Wednesday that he is not considering walking away from football (Twitter link).
Head coach Pete Carroll announced Wednesday that Avril will go on injured reserve, noting that “he’s seeing a bunch of doctors” and is “seriously looking at a big decision.” Many deduced from Carroll’s comments that Avril was determining whether to continue his career, but those inferences were apparently incorrect.
“People are saying I’m retiring because of what coach Carroll said, but he’s referring to surgery,” Avril told Schultz.
Thanks to a serious stinger and numbness in his arm, Avril is likely done for the year, at the very least. He suffered the injury during the Seahawks’ win over the Colts on Oct. 1, forcing him to sit out their most recent game – a 16-10 victory over the Rams – the next week. Seattle, which is coming off a bye, is off to a decent start (3-2), but its defense ranks an uncharacteristically low 12th in DVOA and sits toward the bottom of the league in sacks (11).
Thanks in part to Avril and his 33.5 sacks, the Seahawks’ stop unit ranked between first and fifth in DVOA in each of the previous four seasons. But while Avril was a force during that stretch, he didn’t perform like his usual self early this season – which helps explain the decline the Seahawks’ defense has experienced. The 31-year-old picked up one sack in four games, and his performance ranks just 100th among 104th qualifying edge rushers at Pro Football Focus.
Even if Avril’s career isn’t in doubt, his future in Seattle looks uncertain. If the Seahawks don’t think the longtime sack artist will return to form, they could cut him in the offseason and save $7.5MM of his $8MM cap hit in 2018 – the final year of Avril’s contract.
Latest On Muhammad Wilkerson’s Future
Jets defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson is only in the second season of a five-year, $86MM contract, but the two sides might be headed for a divorce. The 27-year-old Wilkerson hasn’t lived up to expectations since signing his deal, which could lead the Jets to release him in the offseason, according to Darryl Slater of NJ.com.
If the Jets do part with Wilkerson over the winter, he’d join Sheldon Richardson as the second high-profile defensive lineman they’d have jettisoned in recent months. Both players caused some behind-the-scenes headaches in 2016, but Richardson still brought Gang Green a quality return via trade, going to Seattle last month for wide receiver Jermaine Kearse and multiple draft picks, including a second-rounder in 2018. Wilkerson hasn’t done anything this year to boost his trade stock, though, having failed to register a single quarterback hit during the Jets’ 3-3 start. Despite that, head coach Todd Bowles told Rich Cimini of ESPN.com and other reporters on Wednesday that Wilkerson has played “well.”
Bowles’ assessment notwithstanding, it’s fair to say Wilkerson’s play has dropped off dating back to last season. After combining for 36.5 sacks during his first five years, including a career-high 12 in 2015, Wilkerson has totaled just 4.5 since signing his big-money pact. As his traditional numbers began plummeting last season, so did his grades at Pro Football Focus. The site assigned Wilkerson a subpar rating in 2016 and, through six games this year, ranks his performance a lackluster 113th among 124 qualified interior D-linemen. In fairness to Wilkerson, injuries have likely played some part in his recent decline. The broken leg he suffered in the Jets’ 2015 regular-season finale may have slowed him to some degree in 2016, and this year he has dealt with a sprained shoulder and a toe problem. Nevertheless, he has appeared in 20 of 21 games dating back to last year, including all six this season. Wilkerson has never played in fewer than 13 games in a season, and has appeared in 98 of 102 since the Jets used a first-round pick on him in 2011.
Durability might not be enough to save Wilkerson if there isn’t an uptick in his performance over the final two-plus months of the season. Of course, it’s also worth noting that parting with Wilkerson would lead to significant savings for the Jets if he’s designated as a post-June 1 cut. The club would add $17MM in space (against $3MM in dead money) in 2018 if it goes that route, though it would have to carry his $20MM cap number until June 1. On the other hand, the Jets could cut eschew the post-June 1 designation and save $11MM of the $20MM by releasing him. With Wilkerson’s $16.75MM salary for next season set to become guaranteed on the third day of the league year in March, an answer on his future should come relatively early in the winter.
NFC Rumors: Vikes, Saints, Hawks, Eagles
A left knee injury will shelve Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford for the second straight game on Sunday, but it’s not necessarily time to panic, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network says (video link). While Bradford’s knee is “painful,” according to Pelissero, doctors have not told the quarterback that it has any structural that would require surgery. Notably, Bradford underwent procedures for two torn ACLs in that knee earlier in his career. For now, Bradford and the Vikings are hoping he’ll return for their Week 4 home game against Detroit – the first of three divisional matchups in a row.
- A lack of continuity is one of the key causes of the Saints’ years-long defensive struggles, Mike Triplett of ESPN.com observes. The Saints have started the most defenders (55) in the NFL dating back to 2014, and have also seen a league-high 23 defensive backs start at least two games in that span, per Triplett. The club has simply missed on too many defensive free agent signings and draft picks – including linebacker Stephone Anthony – to establish a rhythm on that side of the ball, Triplett contends. The Saints traded Anthony, a first-round selection in 2015, to Miami this week for a 2018 fifth-rounder after he failed to live up to his draft status in New Orleans. Safety Kenny Vaccaro, a 2013 first-rounder, may also find himself in another uniform soon. A starter in 57 of 58 career appearances, Vaccaro sat on the bench for a large portion of the Saints’ blowout loss to New England last week. Former teammate Scott Shanle, a retired linebacker, informed Triplett that Vaccaro is “the most bipolar player I’ve ever seen as far as consistency. When he’s on, he’s one of the best players in the league. When he’s off, I just don’t get it.”
- Seahawks tight end Luke Willson told Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times that he expected his offseason foray into free agency to go better than it did. Willson was on the market for a week before re-signing with the Seahawks on a modest deal worth between $1.8MM and $3MM. “To be honest with you it was a miserable process,’’ Willson said. “Not what I expected. I don’t know what day I officially signed back but it wasn’t the first few days and it was, whatever it was — four days of being unemployed felt like about four months.’’ Willson added that he has no complaints about the end result, noting that he’s still “making quite a bit of money playing football.” The 27-year-old has never been a prolific pass catcher during his four-plus seasons, meaning he could once again have trouble scoring a coveted long-term contract by next spring.
- Eagles executive vice president Howie Roseman erred in handing guard Isaac Seumalo a starting job before training camp began, Paul Domowitch of Philly.com opines. Roseman traded Allen Barbre to Denver on July 26 to further drive home the point that he wanted Seumalo in the starting lineup, but the second-year man is already headed to the bench in favor of Chance Warmack after a pair of rough games. The Eagles’ hope was that Seumalo would start all 16 games at left guard this year and then, perhaps as early as next season, shift to center to take over for Jason Kelce, Domowitch suggests. Kelce’s under contract for a few more years, so if Seumalo doesn’t return to a No. 1 role this season and show marked improvement, perhaps the former will stick around in 2018.
NFL Workout Updates: 9/22/17
Friday’s workout updates (Twitter links via Howard Balzer):
Cleveland Browns
- LB Austin Calitro
Indianapolis Colts
- CBs Stanley Jean-Baptiste, D.J. Killings, Tre Roberson
Minnesota Vikings
- TEs Brandon Barnes, Gavin Escobar, Scott Orndoff; S A.J. Hendy; DEs Pat O’Connor, Devin Taylor
Frank Gore Could Be Playing Final Season
The 2017 season represents Colts running back Frank Gore‘s age-34 campaign and a contract year. Given those two realities, the 13th-year man realizes he could be approaching the very end of his illustrious NFL career.
Looking ahead to the offseason, Gore told Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star: “I will really think about how I feel after the season and how I feel I played this year. If I feel good, a team wants me and I wanna play? Then I’ll play. But if I can’t do it no more, I won’t do it no more.”
Gore is one of only six NFLers still around from the 2005 draft, notes Keefer, who adds that he has outlasted the five running backs who went ahead of him that year by at least four seasons apiece. The former Miami star joined the 49ers as a third-round choice (65th overall) and evolved into one of the premier players in the franchise’s storied history. Gore spent a decade in San Francisco and totaled 11,073 rushing yards, nearly 4,000 more than second-place Joe Perry, on 4.5 yards per carry and made five Pro Bowls.
Gore left the 49ers in 2015 to sign a three-year, $12MM deal with the Colts, who had Super Bowl aspirations at the time. Unfortunately for the Colts and Gore, though, they haven’t made the playoffs with him in the fold and, at 0-2 and with Andrew Luck injured, look likely to extend their postseason drought to three years this season. Still, Gore doesn’t regret making Indianapolis his second (and potentially final) NFL stop.
“If I had to do it again, I still would make the same decision,” Gore said. “Things just didn’t go our way the last two years, starting with our leader. He got hurt. I’ve played with, what, five quarterbacks?”
Gore has played with six quarterbacks in Indianapolis, to be exact, including the uninspiring duo of Scott Tolzien and Jacoby Brissett this year. While Gore still managed at least 260 carries, 957 yards and four rushing touchdowns in each of his first two seasons as a Colt, they’ve scaled back his workload in 2017. He only has 24 carries through two games, putting him on pace for 192 (which would be his fewest since a 127-attempt rookie season), and 88 yards.
Despite his slow start this season, Gore’s overall output as a Colt has helped him vault into eighth on the all-time rushing list, 10th in carries and a 23rd-place tie in ground TDs, and he could ascend to the top five in each of the first two categories by year’s end. That wouldn’t be a bad way to exit for Gore, who already has a plan for the next chapter of his football life.
“I want to help in the front office,” he revealed.
Chiefs Work Out Jace Amaro
The Chiefs worked out free agent tight end Jace Amaro on Thursday, Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star tweets.
The 25-year-old Amaro has been on the hunt for a third NFL employer since the Titans cut him Sept. 3. Amaro, formerly with Texas Tech, entered the league as a second-round pick of the Jets in 2014 and totaled 38 receptions and two touchdowns in his rookie season. The Jets cut him prior to Week 1 last year, though, and he went on to appear in just three of the Titans’ games in 2016, catching three passes for 59 yards.
If he signs with Kansas City, Amaro would vie for a role behind star tight end Travis Kelce. Demetrius Harris is the only one of Kelce’s backups who has been a factor at all in the Chiefs’ offense this year, having hauled in two of Alex Smith‘s throws for 15 yards.
Ra’Shede Hageman Gets Six-Week Ban
The NFL has handed free agent defensive lineman Ra’Shede Hageman a six-week suspension as a result of a March 2016 domestic violence arrest, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter). Hageman faced misdemeanor charges of battery, cruelty to children, and interfering with calls for emergency assistance on the heels of his arrest, and the league began investigating him in September 2016.
Although Hageman escaped serious legal punishment, his off-field issues led the Falcons to part with him on Sept. 4. At that point, the league placed the 27-year-old on the commissioner’s exempt list as it continued its investigation.
“Really as an organization, we weren’t comfortable with where things were,” head coach Dan Quinn said after the Falcons cut Hageman (via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com). “As you know, it’s an ongoing investigation through the league, so I won’t comment much further past that.”
Hageman was someone the Falcons had high hopes for before he forced them to move on from him. Atlanta used the 37th selection in the 2014 draft on the ex-Minnesota standout, and its coaching staff was reportedly enamored of him this past offseason. All told, Hageman appeared in 44 of the Falcons’ 48 regular-season games and combined for 15 starts during his three-year tenure with the club. The majority of his work came in 2015, when he tallied career highs in starts (11), defensive snaps (419) and tackles (27).
Pats Work Out Lamarr Houston, Philly Brown
Outside linebacker Lamarr Houston was among those to work out for the Patriots on Friday, Field Yates of ESPN reports (on Twitter). The team also auditioned a pair of wide receivers – Philly Brown and Tavarres King – as well as defensive tackle Stefan Charles, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets.
New England joins New Orleans as the second team Houston has tried out for since the Bears released him from injured reserve Sept. 6. Knee injuries, including two ACL tears, slowed Houston in recent seasons and led to his release from Chicago, which signed the ex-Raider to a five-year, $35MM contract prior to the 2014 campaign. Houston appeared in just two games last season, though he’s only two years removed from an eight-sack showing.
If Houston signs with the Patriots and returns to something resembling his past form, the 30-year-old could provide a boost to a Patriots defense in need of help. The reigning Super Bowl champions’ stop unit ranks last in DVOA through two weeks and has only totaled four sacks.
On the other side of the ball, the Pats haven’t been the picture of health this year at wideout, which could explain their interest in Brown. The 25-year-old has been available since the Bills waived him Sept. 3, and he has worked out with the Jets, Saints and Pats since then. Brown spent the first three years of his career in Carolina, where he hauled in 79 catches, 1,019 yards and seven touchdowns across 43 games (22 starts).
Extra Points: Vikes, Bolts, Raiders, Lions
Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford is dealing with “swelling, pain and discomfort” in his left knee, Chris Mortenson of ESPN reports. Notably, that’s the same knee in which Bradford underwent procedures to repair a torn ACL in 2013 and ’14. Thanks to his latest knee issue, Bradford’s not a lock to play Sunday against in Pittsburgh, though the Vikings are “cautiously optimistic” he will, per Mortenson. At the same time, the Vikes do have some reservations about the injury, Mortenson notes. In the unlikely event Bradford doesn’t suit up, the Vikings’ offense would presumably experience a marked drop-off after handling the Saints on Monday. Bradford was the driving force behind that 29-19 win, going 27 of 32 for 346 yards and three touchdowns. His backup is Case Keenum, who struggled mightily with the Rams last season.
Elsewhere around the NFL…
- Speaking of left knee troubles, Chargers cornerback Jason Verrett is experiencing soreness there after an ACL tear limited him to four games last season. He’ll miss Sunday’s game against Miami as a result and could sit out “several” more weeks, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Verrett played nearly all of the Chargers’ defensive snaps (63 of 69) in their loss to Denver on Monday, but head coach Anthony Lynn held him out of practice Friday and stated that the corner is “just not right.” Lynn added that he has “no idea” how long Verrett will be on the shelf, only revealing that the player is “week-to-week.” Verrett, 26, is less than a year removed from the knee surgery he underwent last October.
- Left tackle Donald Penn expected the two-year deal he signed with the Raiders in 2016 t0 be his last contract, according to Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area. Penn didn’t show signs of slowing down last season, though, leading him to shelve any thoughts of retirement. He’s now under Raiders control through 2018 after inking an extension Friday. The 34-year-old believes the new pact will ensure that he’ll retire a Raider, which would be a “childhood dream,” as he told Bair and other reporters. Penn, who held out over the summer, noted that he wasn’t optimistic an agreement would come. “There was a lot of doubt (about getting a new deal),” he said. “I didn’t want to hit free agency again. I told them, ‘You know how much I love you guys. Show me how much you guys love me back, and let’s get this done so I can retire a Raider.’
- Lions second-round pick Teez Tabor was a healthy scratch in Week 1 and, given the team’s depth at cornerback, probably won’t be a factor for a while, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com writes. But head coach Jim Caldwell still thinks the ex-Florida Gator could pay short-term dividends. “That probably would not be an accurate statement in terms of a ‘long-term project,'” Caldwell said. “I’m not certain what that denotes, but that probably wouldn’t be how we would assess it.” Meanwhile, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is pleased with the progress Tabor has made in recent months. “He’s doing everything right and we’ll see him at some point,” Austin declared. “(He’s) much different than when he first got in here. I think he’s a really super smart player. Gets it, can get around the ball, again, just growing him right now.” Once considered a good bet to go in the first round this year, Tabor fell to the Lions at No. 53 after posting slow times in the 40-yard yard dash in the offseason.
NFL Workout Updates: 9/15/17
The latest workouts from around the NFL (all links go to Twitter):
Cleveland Browns
- DEs Ian Seau, Jhaustin Thomas; CBs De’Chavon Hayes, Marcus Sayles, JaCorey Shepherd; LB Garrett Sickels (links via Adam Caplan of ESPN)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- WRs Montay Crockett, Tim Patrick; Ps Matt Darr, Jordan Gay, Richie Leone, Austin Rehkow; QB Jerod Evans, Joel Stave; PKs Andrew Franks, Josh Lambo, Mike Meyer; LS Colin Holba (link via Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union)
Los Angeles Rams