Dolphins DL William Hayes Done For Season
Dolphins defensive end William Hayes will miss the remainder of the 2017 campaign after suffering a hamstring injury, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, who adds Hayes will likely undergo surgery.
Miami acquired Hayes on the cheap this spring, picking up the veteran lineman from the Rams in exchange for moving down from pick No. 206 to No. 223. The results have been excellent, as while Hayes has posted only one sack while playing 43% of the Dolphins’ defensive snaps, he’s been outstanding against the run. All told, the 32-year-old Hayes ranks as the NFL’s No. 15 edge defender, per Pro Football Focus.
Hayes’ absence will certainly be felt, but Miami does have other options available to step in at defensive end. Rookie first-round pick Charles Harris, notably, could see his playtime percentage increase down the stretch of what has become a lost Dolphins season, while Terrence Fede might also get more snaps.
The Dolphins reworked Hayes’ contract after acquiring him earlier this year, deleting his 2018 season in exchange for a pay reduction in 2017. While the concession will allow Hayes to hit the open market next spring, he’ll now be doing so entering his age-33 campaign and coming off a season-ending injury.
Seahawks S Kam Chancellor Out For Year
As expected, Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor will be sidelined for the remainder of the 2017 season, head coach Pete Carroll said during an appearance on 710 ESPN (Twitter link).
Chancellor originally suffered a neck injury during Seattle’s Week 10 game against the Cardinals, but Carroll didn’t rule out the possibility of Chancellor returning at some point later this year. However, the ailment is serious enough that hard-hitting defensive back won’t play again in 2017, and Carroll also hinted that Chancellor’s long-term future could be in doubt, noting that beyond this season, “it’s up to [Chancellor]” to determine his outlook.
With Chancellor out, the Seahawks have turned to Bradley McDougald — a former Buccaneer who inked a one-year contract this spring — to fill in at safety opposite Earl Thomas. But the club’s vaunted Legion of Boom has now taken two serious hits, as Chancellor joins fellow stalwart Richard Sherman on injured reserve.
Seattle signed Chancellor to a three-year, $36MM extension in August that contains $13MM guaranteed. As such, the notion that the 29-year-old Chancellor will retire at any point in the near future seems far-fetched, as he’d simply be leaving too much money on the table.
Vikings, Case Keenum Haven’t Discussed Extension
Although Case Keenum has led the Vikings to a 9-2 record while posting the best statistical season of his career, Minnesota has not opened extension talks with the veteran quarterback, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
The Vikings are facing a free agent predicament in 2018, as Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater, and Sam Bradford are all scheduled to hit the open market next spring. However, general manager Rick Spielman & Co. have no plans to work out new deals with any of those signal-callers until the 2017 campaign comes to a close, per Florio.
Depending on how the remainder of the season plays out, the 29-year-old Keenum could potentially be in for a contract that pays him $15MM annually, a significant bump over his 2017 base salary of $2MM. The Vikings could theoretically deploy the franchise tag on Keenum, but that tender will likely come with a cost north of $22MM.
Minnesota could also be forced to hire another offensive coordinator this offseason, as incumbent Pat Shurmur may draw head coaching interest in the coming months. Such a change could affect the Vikings’ preferences at quarterback, and could also add competition for Keenum, as Shurmur would presumably make a run at Keenum if he lands another head job.
Keenum, who had notably struggled for the majority of his NFL career, has now posted 14 touchdowns against only five interceptions this season, and ranks among the top-10 in both quarterback rating and adjusted net yards per pass attempt.
Dolphins RB Damien Williams To Miss Time
Dolphins running back Damien Williams suffered a dislocated shoulder on Sunday and is now expected to miss time, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Williams will be sidelined for next week’s game against the Broncos, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, and could potentially be absent for further contests given that a dislocated shoulder typically requires a two-to-three week recovery period, per Rapoport.
Miami traded starting running back Jay Ajayi to the Eagles on October 31, and Williams has split time with second-year pro Kenyan Drake over the past four weeks. Since Week 9, Williams has handled 34 carries to Drake’s 32, while both have managed 12 receptions. On the ground, Drake has been the more effective player, as he’s averaged 5.47 yards per carry while Williams sits at 4.38 yards per attempt.
With Williams out of the picture, Drake will now take on a full-time role. Senorise Perry now becomes the Dolphins’ No. 2 back, and the club could look to add an outside option to the 53-man roster (Miami doesn’t currently have a running back on its practice squad). The Dolphins have only a 1% chance of earning a postseason berth following yesterday’s loss to the Patriots, so inking a veteran back isn’t necessarily a requirement, as the team may use this opportunity to look at a younger player.
Williams, 25, will become an unrestricted free agent in 2018. He’s playing the 2017 campaign on a restricted free agent contract, and received interest from New England during the offseason.
Pats DB/ST Nate Ebner Placed On IR
Patriots special teamer Nate Ebner suffered a knee injury on a fake punt in Week 12 and has officially been placed on IR, according to Jim McBride of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). 
Ebner, 28, is in the midst of his sixth season in New England, but he’s never played a large role on the defensive side of the ball. Although he’s appeared in 82 career games, Ebner has never made a start, as most of his action has come on special teams. In nine games this season, Ebner hadn’t played a single defensive snap, but had seen time on 60% of the Patriots’ special teams plays.
Scheduled to become a free agent at season’s end, Ebner ranked as one of the NFL’s best special teamers in 2016, per Pro Football Focus. As a whole, New England is typically excellent on special teams: they’ve ranked as a top-five unit by DVOA in six of the past seven seasons.
5 Key NFL Stories: 11/12/17 – 11/19/17
Ezekiel Elliott drops appeal. At long last, the Cowboys running back has agreed to serve his suspension and has officially withdrawn his appeal. At times, the ongoing saga surrounding Elliott seemed to have an indefinite timeline, as continuous legal actions by both Elliott and the NFL led to uncertainty. But Elliott will now accept his six-game ban, meaning he’ll be sidelined through Week 15. By taking the suspension now instead of allowing it to rollover into next season, Elliott is actually saving money given that his 2018 base salary is larger than his 2017 paycheck.
NFL investigating Jameis Winston. Winston is alleged to have groped a female Uber driver in 2016, and the NFL is now looking into the incident. Winston has denied the claims, stating the driver is mistaken on her charges; he also noted that he previously reported the mistake to Uber, but the company suspended his account nonetheless. Eagles cornerback Ronald Darby, a collegiate teammate of Winston, alleges he was in the Uber vehicle with Winston on the night of the alleged incident, also rejected the driver’s story. Winston is not a candidate for the commissioner’s exempt list given that no official charges have been filed.
Bills bench Tyrod Taylor. Had the season ended last Sunday, Buffalo would have been in the postseason. Despite that fact, the Bills decided to bench Taylor — the club’s starting quarterback — and replace him with fifth-round rookie Nathan Peterman. Buffalo had reportedly been weighing the decision to go to Peterman for weeks, and now Taylor is a viable offseason trade candidate. Peterman, meanwhile, has already thrown five interceptions in the first half of today’s game against the Chargers.
Cardinals extend Larry Fitzgerald. As they did in 2016, the Cardinals have given Fitzgerald a one-year extension that will seemingly keep the future Hall of Famer in the desert for one more season. Of course, just because Fitzgerald inked the new deal doesn’t mean he still won’t consider retirement during the offseason. Instead, the pact ensures that Fitzgerald will remain with Arizona if he decides to play in 2018. The contract is worth $11MM but doesn’t contain any guaranteed money.
Legion of Boom disintegrating. After placing Richard Sherman on injured reserve last week, the Seahawks could now do the same with safety Kam Chancellor, who may miss the remainder of the season with a neck injury. Seattle head coach Pete Carroll hasn’t ruled Chancellor out for 2017, but all signs are pointing to lengthy absence or an IR trip. Meanwhile, a former LOB member is back in town, as the Seahawks agreed to sign cornerback Byron Maxwell.
Browns DE Emmanuel Ogbah Out For Year
Browns defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah suffered a broken foot in today’s loss to the Jaguars, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Ogbah will miss the remainder of the season with the injury, reports Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
With their winless record still intact, the Browns clearly aren’t heading to the postseason, so Ogbah’s injury won’t have playoff implications. But it will deprive Cleveland of a young, successful defender who has only improved since entering the league as a second-round pick out of Oklahoma State in 2016.
Ogbah, 24, had been playing on roughly three-quarters of the Browns’ defensive snaps this season, and had graded as the NFL’s No. 66 edge defender among 110 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus. His 73.3 overall grade was a major step up on his 2016 mark of 47.8, and Ogbah had been excellent against the run through 11 weeks.
Other members of Cleveland’s defensive line — which ranks an impressive second in adjusted line yards — will be forced to step up given Ogbah’s absence. Nate Orchard and Carl Nassib could be asked to play more snaps at defensive end opposite No. 1 overall pick Myles Garrett.
Texans Fear D’Onta Foreman Tore Achilles
Fresh off the best game of his career, Texans rookie running back D’Onta Foreman is expected to miss the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
A third-round pick out of Texas earlier this year, Foreman had served as the backup to Lamar Miller, and had posted 68 rushes heading into Week 11. Today’s contest against the Cardinals was the top performance of Foreman’s short NFL tenure, as he handled 10 carries for 65 yards and scored two touchdowns, including one that proved decisive in Sunday’s victory.
Houston, of course, is no stranger to injury luck this season, as the club had already lost superstar rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson to a torn ACL. Wideout Will Fuller missed today’s game with a rib injury, while the Texans are also playing without stalwart left tackle Duane Brown, whom the team dealt to Seattle earlier this month. Without that talent present, Houston has only a nine percent chance to earn a postseason berth even after winning today, per FiveThirtyEight.
The Texans don’t necessarily need to add another running back to their roster, as the club boasts Alfred Blue and Jordan Todman in addition to Miller. Still, a free agent addition isn’t out of the question, and options such as Ryan Mathews, Shaun Draughn, DeAngelo Williams, or Stevan Ridley could make sense.
Redskins’ Chris Thompson Done For Season
Redskins running back Chris Thompson suffered a fractured fibula and will miss the remainder of the 2017 campaign, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Thompson, 27, had been in the midst of a breakout campaign in his fifth NFL season. Heading into Week 11, Thompson had posted 771 yards from scrimmage, a total that had already topped his previous career high. He’d averaged 4.6 yards per carry on the ground, but was even more effective in the passing game, where’d he posted 38 receptions for 494 yards. All told, Thompson had managed five total touchdowns.
A former fifth-round pick, Thompson agreed to a contract extension earlier this year. The new pact will keep Thompson in Washington through the 2019 season, and will pay him $7MM+ over the next two years. Next season, Thompson will earn nearly $2MM in base salary and count for roughly $3.25MM on the Redskins’ cap.
Thompson will become the second Redskins’ running back to be placed on injured reserve in recent weeks, joining former starter Rob Kelley. Head coach Jay Gruden & Co. will now continue to lean on fourth-round rookie Samaje Perine, who handled 23 carries in today’s loss to the Saints. Byron Marshall, signed off the Eagles’ practice squad last week, will also contribute, while Washington could also promote rookie LeShun Daniels from its practice squad.
North Notes: Browns, Packers, Lions, Ravens
If Hue Jackson returns as the Browns head coach in 2018, he’s likely to want more input on the club’s personnel moves, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. That’s not to say Jackson requires final say on Cleveland’s transactions, as he agreed to the current decision-making hierarchy when he accepted the Browns job. However, Jackson would “want his voice heard” alongside that of front office members Sashi Brown, Paul DePodesta, and Andrew Berry, per Rapoport. Reports of strife between the Browns’ front office and their coaching staff have been prevalent, especially relating to the club’s ongoing search for a quarterback, so Jackson would likely attempt to assert himself if continues as Cleveland’s coach next season.
Here’s more from the NFL’s two North divisions:
- The Packers placed offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga on injured reserve Saturday, and now Green Bay will face a complicated decision on the veteran lineman’s future this offeason, as Ryan Wood of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. While Bulaga has been an effective right tackle when healthy, he missed five games with injury in 2015 and now has two torn ACLs (one on each knee) on his record. Bulaga will be 29 years old when the 2018 season begins, and is due a $5.85MM base salary next year. If Green Bay did decide to cut ties, it would save $5.15MM on its salary cap.
- Like Bulaga, defensive end Ezekiel Ansah has dealt with injury issues this season, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be a member of the Lions in 2018, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Ansah, 28, is absent for the second straight game today as he deals with a back injury, and his decreased production will likely lead to a depressed market when he hits the free market next spring. Though an extension seemed like a formality earlier this year, a long-term deal for Ansah now seems out of the question, while the franchise tag — at a cost north of $18MM — isn’t an option, either. A one-year pillow contract in the range of $10MM could make sense for both Ansah and the Lions, as Birkett notes.
- The Ravens have demoted former first-round receiver Breshad Perriman (and made him a healthy scratch for Week 11), tweets Rapoport. Perriman has managed only seven receptions in 2017, his third NFL season, and ranks among the league’s worst wideouts through 10-plus weeks, per Football Outsiders. However, Perriman’s reduced role may only last a single week, as Baltimore wants to see how the 24-year-old pass-catcher responds, per Rapoport.