Browns WR Jordan Payton Suspended
The NFL announced that Browns rookie wide receiver Jordan Payton has been suspended four games for violating the league’s PED policy. Given that Cleveland won’t be appearing in the postseason, Payton’s first NFL campaign is now officially over.
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Payton, 23, was selected in the fifth round of out UCLA this spring as one of the Browns’ league-leading 14 draft picks. Cleveland selected four wide receivers in this year’s draft (five including Seth Devalve, a collegiate WR who has since been converted to tight end), and Payton has been the least effective thus far. While Corey Coleman, Ricardo Louis, and Rashard Higgins have all contributed something, Payton had managed just three yards and one reception in four games.
As a mid-round rookie, Payton is earning minimum salaries for the duration of his contract, but he’ll still forfeit about $105K in base salary and roughly $15K in prorated bonus money as a result of the four-game ban.
Falcons Promote WR Nick Williams
The Falcons have promoted wide receiver Nick Williams from the practice squad to the active roster and waived cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson, the club announced today. Atlanta has already ruled out pass-catcher Mohamed Sanu for Sunday’s game against the Rams, and the team announced today that All Pro wide receiver Julio Jones is questionable for Week 14 and is a game-time decision after not practicing all week.
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“Sunday, we’ll go out and let [Jones] run some full speed routes, go through the process,” said head coach Dan Quinn. “It’s not the catching, we just want to see the full speed routes. That’s what the plan is – his intent is right to go and play. We are anticipating that, but we’ll see where it goes on Sunday morning.”
Jones, of course, is the key piece of a Falcons offense that has ridden its No. 1 DVOA offense to a 7-5 record. Once leading the NFC South by a wide margin, Atlanta is now tied with Tampa Bay for first place in the division, so every game counts as the club closes out the campaign. According to Brian Burke of ESPN.com‘s Playoff Leverage, a win on Sunday would give the Falcons approximately a 90% chance of making the playoffs, while a loss would drop those odds to less than 75%.
If both Sanu and Jones are sidelined on Sunday, Atlanta would use a receiving corps made up of Taylor Gabriel, Aldrick Robinson, Justin Hardy, Eric Weems, and Williams, along with tight ends Austin Hooper and Levine Toilolo.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/9/2016
Today’s minor moves:
- Having already signaled that he would start this weekend, the Browns announced that they’ve officially activated quarterback Robert Griffin III from injured reserve and waived offensive lineman Matt McCants.
- As expected, the Saints have officially placed tight end Josh Hill on injured reserve, according to Joel Erickson of the Advocate (Twitter link). The move will clear a roster spot for recently-signed linebacker Travis Feeney.
- The Seahawks have waived linebacker Jordan Tripp from injured reserve with an injury settlement, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweets. Seattle had just placed Tripp, who appeared in seven games this year (one start), on IR last week to make room for fellow linebacker Mike Morgan.
- The Panthers announced that they’ve signed linebacker Ben Jacobs, who takes the roster spot vacated by cornerback Robert McClain this morning. Jacobs, 28, has experience with Carolina, as he appeared in 32 games with the club over from 2014-15, acting as a special teamer.
AFC Notes: Colts, Jets, Patriots, Bills
Although the Colts are now thin at linebacker following D’Qwell Jackson‘s four-game suspension, Indianapolis is unlikely to forge a reunion with free agent Nate Irving, according to Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). Irving, whom Indy released in September, worked out for the Colts in last month, but is still looking for a contract. Instead, Indianapolis is likely to hand reserve ‘backer Edwin Jackson more playing time.
Here’s more from the AFC:
- Jets offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, who says he goes year-to-year, says he’d like to be back next year (Twitter link via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com). However, he hasn’t talked to head coach Todd Bowles about his future. The Jets have one of the lowest-ranked passing games in the NFL this season and they’re reportedly going to dismiss some of the staff assistants this offseason.
- Although the Patriots ended up signing Griff Whalen, they worked out wide receiver Jared Abbrederis, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets. Wide receiver Kevin Smith also auditioned (Twitter link via Doug Kyed of NESN).
- Bills GM Doug Whaley says he does not want to see rookie quarterback Cardale Jones to play at any point this season (Twitter link via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com). “That would mean something terrible happened,” the GM said. The 6-6 Bills have had issues in the passing game, but they apparently won’t turn things over to Jones over the final month. Whaley raised some eyebrows today when he declined to commit to Tyrod Taylor for next season.
Sam Robinson and Zach Links contributed to this post.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/8/16
Here are today’s practice squad moves.
Denver Broncos
- Signed: DT Travis Raciti
New York Jets
- Signed: FB Chris Swain
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: RB George Farmer
- Cut: RB Kelvin Taylor
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/8/16
Here are today’s minor moves.
- The Jets are promoting safety Doug Middleton from the practice squad. Gang Green signed Middleton, an Appalachian State product, as a UDFA this spring and signed him to their practice squad in September. The rookie safety has yet to play in an NFL game.
- The Patriots waived defensive tackle Darius Kilgo, Doug Kyed of NESN reports (on Twitter). Kilgo’s cut opened the door for the Patriots to add wideout Griff Whalen earlier today. New England claimed Kilgo off waivers from the Broncos, who selected him in the sixth round in 2015. Kilgo became a superfluous commodity after Alan Branch won his suspension last week. Kilgo did not play in a game for the Patriots after suiting up for nine in each of the past two season for the Broncos.
Vikings’ Harrison Smith May Miss Rest Of Year
Vikings safety Harrison Smith will miss Sunday’s game against the Jaguars while dealing with a high ankle sprain, and the possibility exists that Harrison could miss the remainder of the season, a source tells Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
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Smith could need surgery at some point, but for now, team doctors will evaluate him on a weekly basis and assess his condition. Smith, who was originally injured in the Minnesota’s November 20 game against the Cardinals and has aggravated the issue in two contests since, has a grade three sprain, the most serious form of the ailment, per Tomasson. Smith could potentially return late in the regular season, but that decision will likely be affected by the Vikings’ playoff position (the club currently sits at 6-6, second place in the NFC North).
Smith, 27, is one of the premier safeties in the NFL, and was named to his first Pro Bowl in 2015. Signed to a five-year, $51.25MM extension prior to 2016 that made him the third-highest paid safety in the league, Smith has continued to produce, starting all 12 games while posting 64 tackles, two fumble recoveries, and two passes defensed. Pro Football Focus currently grades Smith as the No. 7 safety in the NFL among 89 qualifiers.
Poor injury luck has hit the Vikings harder than any other NFL club, but most of those issues have come on the offensive side of the ball, where Teddy Bridgewater, Adrian Peterson, Matt Kalil, Andre Smith, Mike Harris, Jake Long, and others have been lost for most (or all) of the season. Minnesota’s defense has been more stable, but could struggle to uphold its No. 6 DVOA ranking with Smith sidelined.
Looking Ahead To 2017 Franchise Tags
The NFL’s salary cap for 2017 won’t officially be set until sometime after the Super Bowl, but based on the direction the cap has trended in recent years, we have a general idea of where it may end up. Predicting an increase of about 8.2% on this year’s $155.27MM cap, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com projects a 2017 cap of $168MM, and uses that figure to get a sense of what next year’s franchise-tag figures would look like. Although the 2017 cap isn’t yet confirmed, Corry has confirmed the amounts necessary to perform calculations using the franchise-tag formula. So while the official amounts may end up looking a little different, these should be pretty close.
Here are the non-exclusive franchise tag amounts projected by Corry, using a presumed cap of $168M for 2017:
- Quarterback: $21.395MM
- Running back: $12.377MM
- Wide receiver: $15.826MM
- Tight end: $9.894MM
- Offensive line: $14.444MM
- Defensive end: $16.955MM
- Defensive tackle: $13.468MM
- Linebacker: $14.754MM
- Cornerback: $14.297MM
- Safety: $10.961MM
- Punter/kicker: $4.863MM
All of those figures are modest increases on the 2016 amount, which can be found right here. The most significant increase comes at quarterback, where a new contract for Andrew Luck and a franchise tag for Kirk Cousins helped boost that figure. Wide receiver, which should see an increase of 8.4%, was buoyed by fresh deals for Keenan Allen, Doug Baldwin, and Allen Hurns.
With those numbers in mind, Corry also examines a few potential candidates to be franchised or to receive the transition tag. Cousins is perhaps the most obvious candidate to be tagged again, but Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell, Cardinals edge rusher Chandler Jones, Browns linebacker Jamie Collins, and Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul could also get franchised. For the full list, along with explanations, be sure to check out Corry’s piece, which is an interesting read.
Portions of this post have been modified from an earlier post by PFR editor emeritus Luke Adams.
Christian McCaffrey Expected To Enter Draft
Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey is — unsurprisingly — expected to declare as an early entrant for next year’s draft, sources tell Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (video link), who ranks McCaffrey as a lock to be chosen in the top-50 picks.
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McCaffrey, who won’t turn 21 years old until next June, broke out as a sophomore in 2015, averaging six yards per rush while totaling nearly 2,700 yards from scrimmage. For that performance, McCaffrey earned consensus All-American honors, was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, and finished second to Alabama’s Derrick Henry in Heisman voting. This year, McCaffrey ranks first in the nation in all-purpose yards per game, and fourth in rushing yards per game.
The son of former NFL wide receiver Ed McCaffrey, Christian McCaffrey ranks highly on nearly every major draft board, including that of CBSSports.com, which ranks the Cardinal running back 21st overall and third among backs, behind LSU’s Leonard Fournette and Florida State’s Dalvin Cook. Miller, meanwhile, has McCaffrey at 17th overall, while Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) places him fourth among RBs but doesn’t list McCaffrey among his top-25 players.
NFL Workout Updates: 12/6/2016
The Broncos worked out a dozen players today, including quarterbacks Sean Renfree and T.J. Yates, running backs Bernard Pierce and Zac Brooks, and wide receivers Keshawn Martin and Corey Washington, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Yates, 29, has only started seven games during his regular season career, but has somewhat miraculously managed two playoff starts, both for Houston. Each of the tryouts conducted by Denver today were for futures contract consideration, tweets Mike Klis of 9NEWS.
Here’s more from the workout front:
- Searching for emergency interior line options, the Patriots tried out OL James Stone and Chris Watt today, reports Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (Twitter links), who adds that New England also took a look at wide receiver Dez Stewart. As Reiss wrote earlier today, the Pats could be forced to make a move at WR following an injury to Danny Amendola, and Stewart could potentially fill that void.
- The Chiefs, dealing with injuries to Dontari Poe and Jaye Howard (placed on IR), auditioned veteran defensive lineman Kenrick Ellis and Montori Hughes, per Caplan (Twitter link). Kansas City also worked out inside linebackers James Burgess and Darnell Sankey on Saturday, Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star tweets.
- The Packers tried out tight end Kennard Backman, quarterback Mike Bercovici, wide receiver Mitch Mathews, and running back Daryl Virgies, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. Backman is familiar with Green Bay, as the Packers chose him in the sixth round of the 2015 draft.
- Defensive back Dezmen Southward, defensive end Josh Boyd, and linebacker Ron Thompson all worked out for the Raiders today, per Caplan (Twitter link). Southward was a third-round pick by the Falcons in 2014.
- The Buccaneers are working out 6’4″, 220-pound wide receiver Joe Hills, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. He was the 2016 Arena League offensive Player of the Year for the Jacksonville Sharks.
- Defensive lineman Frank Beltre and defensive back Tony Burnett were among the players that tried out for the Vikings today, according to Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Twitter link).
- The Jets worked out long snappers Zach Triner, Rick Lovato, Daniel Dillon, and Kameron Canaday, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. New York’s current long snapper is veteran Tanner Purdum.