AFC North Notes: Steelers, Gordon
A few notes from the AFC North:
- Financial details on Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin‘s newly minted contract extension are unavailable, but the belief is that he’s close behind the NFL’s highest-paid sideline leaders – New England’s Bill Belichick and Seattle’s Pete Carroll – in annual salary, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. While one of Tomlin’s superiors, general manager Kevin Colbert, could be in line for an extension of his own, owner Art Rooney II suggested Thursday that there’s no timetable to reach an agreement. “They’re not tied together in any sort of timing situation,” Rooney said. “I hate to speculate on contracts because they get done when they get done.”
- A recent CBS Sports report suggested that Pittsburgh is interested in trading for Rams franchise-tagged cornerback Trumaine Johnson, but “several Steelers sources laughed at that premise,” Ed Bouchette of the Post-Gazette writes. At $16.74MM, Johnson is the league’s top-paid corner. Meanwhile, the Steelers’ entire cornerback corps only makes $12.49MM.
- When asked Thursday about a potential reinstatement for suspended Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon, commissioner Roger Goodell said it is “not under active consideration to my knowledge…at least it hasn’t gotten to my desk yet” (Twitter link via Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer). The 26-year-old was denied reinstatement by the league office in May and informed that he could not reapply again until the fall, so Goodell’s update here in August doesn’t mean a whole lot.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Saints’ Max Unger Passes Physical
When Saints center Max Unger suffered a foot injury in May, the expectation was that he’d miss the opening of the 2017 season. It doesn’t appear that will happen, though, as Unger passed a physical on Thursday and is now eligible to come off the active/physically unable to perform list, Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com tweets.
Going without Unger to begin the year would’ve left the Saints sans two of their best offensive linemen at the outset of the campaign. As it stands, the club will have to make do without left tackle Terron Armstead, who suffered a torn labrum in June, until sometime in the fall. Armstead also sat out nine games last year on account of knee and quad issues.
Injuries have been problematic for Unger, too, as the 31-year-old has missed 30 of 128 regular-season games since the Seahawks chose him in the second round of the 2009 draft. Seattle dealt the two-time Pro Bowler and a fourth-round pick to New Orleans for tight end Jimmy Graham and a first-rounder in 2015, and the lineman has been a dependable pivot for the Saints during his two years with the club. Unger has appeared in 31 of a possible 32 contests with the Saints, all starts, and is coming off a year in which he ranked 14th among Pro Football Focus’ 72 qualified centers in overall performance.
DeMaurice Smith Expects 2021 Work Stoppage
The NFL hasn’t seen a work stoppage since a three-plus-month offseason lockout in 2011, but it appears more labor strife is on the horizon. The collective bargaining agreement the owners and players negotiated six years ago expires at the conclusion of the 2020 season, after which a strike or a lockout is “almost a virtual certainty,” NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith told Albert Breer of The MMQB this week (video link).
While Smith is unsure if another stoppage will lead to missed games (it didn’t last time), there are obvious cracks in the relationship between the owners and players that could force a drawn-out battle. For example, Smith stated there won’t be another uncapped year before the current CBA expires because the owners “lied and cheated” about the previous one in 2010. He added that there was collusion on the owners’ side when they unanimously voted in 2008 to opt out of the prior CBA in 2011.
“All of the mutual benefits that were supposed to happen as a result of the opt-out didn’t happen last time,” said Smith. “Owners colluded with each other. We found out they colluded with each other. All of the bad things that went to the players happened and all of the bad things that went to the owners didn’t happen.We have a new deal where if it doesn’t get fixed, you head into a certain small ‘A’ armageddon.”
When serious discussions do commence on a new CBA, it’s fair to speculate that more financial security for the players and a less austere disciplinary system could factor into talks. The players have made it known on multiple occasions, particularly in light of recent contracts given out to NBAers, that they aren’t content with the non-guaranteed deals in the NFL. There has also been unhappiness toward the way the league has doled out punishment to players during commissioner Roger Goodell’s time at the helm. In fact, the NFLPA is currently in a public fight with the league over Cowboys superstar running back Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game ban stemming from domestic violence allegations.
NFC Notes: 49ers, Eli, Rodgers, Lions
Cornerback Tramaine Brock drew interest from his former team, the 49ers, before the Seahawks signed him on Wednesday, according to his agent, Ron Slavin. “The 49ers denied it, but they called me the minute [his case] got dismissed and wanted him back,” Slavin told Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Brock spent the first seven years of his career with the 49ers, who released him April 7 on the heels of an arrest on suspicion of felony domestic violence. Charges were dropped last week, though, leading a slew of teams to inquire about Brock before he chose Seattle. The 49ers announced that they were not among those clubs, but Slavin says otherwise. Brock will face his ex-team twice this year.
Here’s more from the NFC:
- Giants quarterback Eli Manning, 36, told Ian O’Connor of ESPN.com on Wednesday that he’s optimistic about playing into his 40s. “Yeah, I think sitting here right now, I think I can play another four years,” said Manning, who’s under contract for three more seasons. Manning has been the picture of durability throughout his career, having played 16 games in every season other than 2004 – his rookie year, which he began as a backup. He’s similar in that regard to two-time Super Bowl opponent Tom Brady, whose ability to stay on the field for the vast majority of his career has helped him hang around into his 40s. Of course, durability was also key for Eli Manning’s brother, Peyton Manning, who managed to play until the age of 39.
- Staying on the subject of Hall of Fame-bound signal-callers, Pete Dougherty of PackersNews.com opines that Green Bay must sign Aaron Rodgers to a new deal within the next year. While Rodgers is already under contract through 2019, awarding him a new pact would kill the possibility of the franchise tag coming into play, which Dougherty argues is rather important. Tagging Rodgers after 2019 would cost the Packers around $25MM, and that number would increase substantially if they were to franchise him again the next year. And if Rodgers doesn’t have an extension soon, the 33-year-old could decide he’d be better off playing under the tag for as long as possible and raking in all the guaranteed cash that comes with it, contends Dougherty.
- With the Lions having lost Kerry Hyder and Brandon Copeland to season-ending injuries in recent days, they’re likely to look outside the organization for help along the defensive line, writes Nate Atkins of MLive.com. The Lions don’t possess a ton of cap space (around $7MM), but they have enough to pick someone up, contends Atkins, who lists Jared Odrick, Dwight Freeney, Paul Kruger, Trent Cole and Sen’Derrick Marks as logical targets in free agency. On the trade market, Atkins wonders if the Lions could pursue the Jets’ Sheldon Richardson, whom they’ve been shopping since last year. However, at upward of $8MM, Richardson has a high cap number, and he put the kibosh on potential trades with multiple teams earlier this year when he refused to take a pay cut.
AFC Notes: Ravens, Steelers, Jets, Bills
Free agent running back Ryan Mathews may be a fit for the Ravens, but signing him would require the club to overlook his ball security issues, observes Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com. Mathews has fumbled a league-high 20 times since 2010, notes Hensley, who adds that Ravens head coach John Harbaugh cut the playing time of Ray Rice, Lorenzo Taliaferro and Javorius Allen in recent years after each had problems in that department. “You play the best players, and at running back, the best players don’t fumble,” Harbaugh said in 2015. While Mathews has his flaws, including injury concerns, he has nonetheless averaged a lofty 4.4 yards per carry on nearly 1,200 career attempts. A Ravens team that tied for 20th in YPC last year (4.0) and won’t have the injured Kenneth Dixon in 2017 could use the type of per-carry production Matthews’ brings to the table.
More from the AFC:
- The Steelers invested a second-round pick in Senquez Golson in 2015, but the cornerback’s lack of availability could bring an end to his time with the team, according to defensive coordinator Keith Butler (via Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette). “If he can’t stay on the field we can’t keep him,” said Butler. “That’s just the fact of the matter. That’s not threat or anything like that. That’s just the fact of the matter. It’s just the way it is for all of them.” Injuries prevented Golson from playing a down in either of his first two seasons, and a hamstring issue has kept him out for almost all of training camp this year.
- Jets wide receiver/return man Lucky Whitehead will undergo surgery on his broken foot, head coach Todd Bowles told reporters Wednesday (via Dennis Waszak Jr. of the Associated Press). While it’s unclear exactly how much time Whitehead will miss, he’ll be on the shelf for a while. Bowles said that Whitehead “could potentially” play this year, per Waszak. The late-July waiver claim from the Cowboys had been in line to begin the season as Gang Green’s top returner. With would-be replacement Jalin Marshall out the first quarter of the season because of a suspension, the Jets could turn to one of Frankie Hammond, Romar Morris, Chris Harper or Marcus Murphy, Waszak suggests.
- Fifth-round rookie Nathan Peterman has passed T.J. Yates on the Bills’ depth chart at quarterback, leading Mike Rodak of ESPN.com to argue that the team should release the veteran. The Bills would only have the untested Peterman behind starter Tyrod Taylor at that point, but as Rodak writes, the loss of Taylor for an extended period would kill their already slim hopes of contending anyhow. Further, cutting Yates would allow Buffalo to keep another player at a position of need, and it’s possible the team would be able to re-sign him at a later date if an emergency were to arise under center. Yates nearly went without an employer last season until the Dolphins signed him in mid-December, after all, though he did suffer an ACL tear late in the previous year.
Latest On Potential Greg Olsen Extension
The Panthers gave an extension to one of their most productive, respected veterans – linebacker Thomas Davis – on Tuesday. Tight end Greg Olsen might not get the same treatment, though: While interim general manager Marty Hurney and Olsen’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, have discussed a new deal, an agreement isn’t imminent, Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer reports.
An extension for Olsen isn’t a must from the team’s point of view, as the prolific pass catcher still has two seasons remaining on the three-year, $22.5MM pact he inked before the 2015 campaign. Further, Olsen hasn’t created any behind-the-scenes issues over extension talks. The 32-year-old would like a new contract, but he announced last month that he’s willing to play out the current deal so as not to serve as a distraction to the Panthers. However, Olsen did indicate on Wednesday that an extension could come this summer.
“I haven’t talked to Marty about it or anybody about it,” Olsen said. “If something gets done, great. But we’ve got a lot going on now with training camp and preseason and whatnot. So it hasn’t been really something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. But we’ll see over these next couple of weeks what happens.”
Olsen, whom Hurney acquired in a 2011 trade with the Bears during his first stint as Carolina’s GM, has become one of the top players in the Panthers’ relatively short history. The ex-Miami Hurricane hasn’t missed a game during his six years with the Panthers, and he has averaged 71 catches, 897 yards and five touchdowns per season with the club. He’s coming off his third straight 1,000-yard season, making him the first tight end in league history to accomplish that feat. It’s easy to make a case that Olsen deserves a new deal, then, especially considering he’s only seventh among TEs in yearly value on his current accord. But there’s apparently no rush on either side to make it happen.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/16/17
Wednesday’s minor NFL transactions:
- The 49ers have placed linebacker Donavin Newsom on injured reserve and and waived/injured fellow LB Jayson DiManche. An undrafted rookie from Missouri, Newsom avoided a severe neck injury during practice last week, but he still suffered a concussion. DiManche has been with the 49ers twice in recent months, and his second tenure with the team only spanned 11 days. The 26-year-old has 29 NFL appearances on his resume, all of which came with the Browns and Bengals from 2013-15.
- The Falcons have signed running back Jhurell Pressley, according to JuliaKate E. Culpepper of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Pressley, a 2016 undrafted free agent from New Mexico, spent time on Atlanta’s practice squad last year, before which he had stints with the Vikings and Packers.
- The Seahawks have signed linebacker Rodney Butler, waived linebacker Ronald Powell with an injury settlement, waived wide receiver Jamel Johnson and waived/injured safety Jordan Simone (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times). Butler had been awaiting an opportunity since going undrafted this spring from New Mexico State, where he amassed 165 tackles last season. Powell is the only member of this quartet with NFL experience, having appeared in 14 games (no starts, one tackle) with the Saints in 2014. He originally signed with the Seahawks off the Bears’ practice squad last December. Johnson, who went undrafted back in 2014, has had two Seahawks stints – the most recent of which didn’t even last two weeks. Simone, undrafted in 2016, has been in and out of the Seahawks organization since late May. He was a playmaker from 2014-15 at Arizona State, where he totaled 191 tackles, five sacks and four interceptions.
Lions Waive/Injured Brandon Copeland
The Lions waived/injured linebacker Brandon Copeland on Wednesday. Copeland will either land on the Lions’ injured reserve or head to free agency via an injury settlement if he goes through waivers unclaimed.
Detroit lost the 26-year-old Copeland to a season-ending torn pectoral on Monday, just one day after defensive end Kerry Hyder saw his 2017 conclude prematurely on account of a torn Achilles. Copeland hasn’t been nearly as important to the Lions’ defense as Hyder has, having totaled a mere 13 tackles and one start in two seasons. However, Copeland led the Lions’ special teams unit in snaps in 2016 (305), pacing a group that Football Outsiders ranked No. 6 in the NFL. The year before, he piled up 313 ST snaps – good for third among Lions.
In less notable moves, Detroit signed offensive lineman Connor Bozick, tight end Andrew Price and defensive end Giorgio Newberry. No one from that trio has any NFL experience.
Dolphins Work Out Kelvin Sheppard
Along with the previously reported Rey Maualuga, the linebacker-needy Dolphins worked out free agent Kelvin Sheppard on Wednesday, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (on Twitter). Miami didn’t sign either player and “will keep monitoring options,” writes Jackson, who adds that the team hasn’t ruled out picking up Maualuga. Whether it will continue considering Sheppard is unclear.
Had the Dolphins inked Sheppard to a deal Wednesday, he’d have been in line for his second stint with the team. Sheppard was a member of the Dolphins from 2014-15, when he made 30 appearances with the club and started 15 times. Nearly all of those starting appearances (14) occurred in 2015, a season in which Sheppard amassed a career-high 102 tackles. The former LSU Tiger wasn’t much of a difference-maker in Miami, though, and also wasn’t a high-impact defender in stints with the Bills (2011-12), Colts (2013) and Giants (2016).
Sheppard, 29, appeared in each of the Giants’ games last season and made 11 starts, but he finished with just 47 tackles, failed to force any turnovers and earned a poor grade (39.1) from Pro Football Focus. He hadn’t generated any known interest in free agency until his workout with the Dolphins.
Miami’s decision to bring in Maualuga and Sheppard came as a reaction to the ACL tear that ended second-round rookie linebacker Raekwon McMillan‘s season last week. The Dolphins will also go without Koa Misi, whom they placed on injured reserve in June as a result of the spinal fusion surgery he underwent last year, further weakening their depth at linebacker.
Latest On Ezekiel Elliott
Last September, when the NFL was investigating domestic violence allegations Tiffany Thompson made against Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, she expressed a desire to blackmail him, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reports. Thompson and her friend had a text messaging exchange in which the former noted that she was considering selling sex videos of herself and Elliott. When the friend suggested leveraging the videos against Elliott, Thompson replied, “I want to bro.” Thompson also registered the the email address “ezekielelliott sex vids” in August 2016, according to Robinson.
While Elliott is appealing the six-game suspension the NFL handed him last week as a result of its domestic violence investigation, the texts between Thompson and her friend won’t necessarily lead to a shorter punishment for him. There’s nothing in them to disprove Thompson’s accusations against Elliott, for one; further, the league already knew of the texts when it was looking into the case, as it explained in its 160-page report of the investigation that Robinson obtained:
“The League’s forensic experts also recovered evidence from Ms. Thompson’s phone that she had registered an email address titled, “ezekielelliott sex vids” during the month of August, 2016. In addition, a text message with her friend [name withheld by Yahoo] was recovered that showed them talking about their need to make more money and Ms. Thompson raised the idea of selling the sex tapes she had of herself and Mr. Elliott. Her friend [name withheld] said they should blackmail Mr. Elliott with them, they’d be “millionaires”. Ms. Thompson replied that she’d like to but was scared. When Ms. Thompson was asked about this by the League’s investigators, she stated that she did have sex tapes of her and Mr. Elliott on her phone and she did open the email account but she denied doing so to blackmail Mr. Elliott.”
That’s not going to fly for Elliott’s camp, which will use the texts to establish a lack of credibility on Thompson’s part, according to Robinson. Elliott will have the NFLPA on his side, which the league accused on Wednesday of “spreading derogatory information to the media about the victim in Ezekiel Elliott’s discipline case.” The NFLPA issued a response on Twitter, contending that “the League office has a history of being exposed for its lack of credibility.”