Minor NFL Transactions: 12/4/17
Here are today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: CB Leon McFadden
- Waived: RB Terrence Magee
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted from practice squad: CB Stanley Jean-Baptiste
Houston Texans
- Placed on injured reserve: LB Brennan Scarlett
Oakland Raiders
-
Waived: DL Darius Latham
Washington Redskins
- Claimed: G Kyle Kalis
- Promoted from practice squad: WR Robert Davis
- Waived: DL Caraun Reid, LB Pete Robertson
Andy Levitre Won’t Play In Week 14
Falcons guard Andy Levitre left the Falcons game vs. the Vikings on Sunday and wasn’t able to return due to a partially torn triceps. Now with a quick turnaround for the team’s Thursday night affair against the Saints, Levitre will not be able to suit up in Atlanta’s Week 14 contest, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
However, Rapoport does clarify that a source tells him the injury is not a season ender. The team is hopeful that the lineman could return after just “2-3 weeks”.
Levitre, 31, has been one of the better guards in the league since he entered the NFL as a second round pick by the Bills in 2009. Even as he gets older, Levitre still ranks as a top 20 guard in football this year, according to Pro Football Focus. He grades out similarly in terms of run and pass blocking, so there’s not one area he shows great weakness or strength in so far in 2017.
Backup lineman Ben Garland came into replace Levitre in yesterday’s game, so you can expect him to get the first crack as the starting left guard on Thursday. The team also has Ty Sambrailo, Austin Pasztor and Sean Harlow on the bench for depth purposes.
Texans Activate LB Brian Cushing
Veteran middle linebacker Brian Cushing missed the first ten games of the regular season after being suspended once again for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy. The Texans had placed him on a roster exemption list last week, but has now activated him to the 53 man roster, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Wilson adds that Cushing is likely to be active for the team’s Week 14 matchup against the 49ers.
Head coach Bill O’Brien seemed to be excited about getting one of the leaders of his defense back.
“Absolutely, his leadership, No. 1, his knowledge of our defense, his experience playing in our defense, his toughness,” O’Brien said. “All of those things could definitely help our defense.”
Cushing, 30, has known no other franchise than Houston since he was drafted by the team in the first round back in 2009. Since then, Cushing has played a full 16 games in a regular season just three times, having been suspended once prior for four games in 2010.
However, when the linebacker is on the field, he’s frequently around the football having led the team in tackles twice in his eight previous years in the league. Cushing appeared in 13 games last season, collecting 38 solo tackles in the process.
The Texans defense has taken multiple hits throughout the year, losing two of the best defenders at their position in J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus for the season. Cushing will likely take the place of Zach Cunningham and start next to fellow inside linebacker Benardrick McKinney on Sunday.
Bears Place Cairo Santos On IR, Expected To Sign Mike Nugent
Chicago has already gone through two kickers this season and will now add one more to the list in Week 14. The team has placed current kicker Cairo Santos on injured reserve thanks to a groin injury, reports Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). Biggs adds in another tweet that the Bears are expected to replace him with veteran Mike Nugent.
Santos, 26, was signed by the team two weeks ago to replace Connor Barth. In that time, the former Kansas City placekicker converted just one of his two field goal tries to make him 4-5 on the year if you include his first three games of the season as a member of the Chiefs.
The 26-year-old had a decent three-year run in Kansas City before he was eventually replaced by Harrison Butker when Santos consequently suffered another groin injury earlier in the season.
In Nugent, Chicago brings in a kicker with a lot of experience. The 35-year-old is now playing in his 14th year in the NFL after most recently filling in for Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey for four games while Bailey was recovering from an injury of his own. However, Nugent was not steady during his short stint with Dallas, as he missed three of the seven kicks he tried. In his career, Nugent has converted just over 80% of his field goals, with his longest make coming from 55 yards out.
Chicago has not seemed to be able to get their kicking game right since the team moved on from its long-time kicker Robbie Gould after the 2015-16 season. They’ll likely be looking for a new full-time option to lock down the spot as they head into the offseason in a few weeks.
Herm Edwards Named Arizona State’s Head Coach
Herm Edwards is a head coach once again, but this time in the college ranks. He’s been hired by Arizona State to become the next head coach of their football program, according to Doug Haller of AZCentral Sports (Twitter link). There will be a press conference tomorrow to officially announce the news.
In part of a statement released by the Arizona State Athletics Director, Ray Anderson, he addressed the vision he sees for the program under such a big name in the football industry.
“Our goal for this football program is to reach unprecedented heights, and therefore we need to find a way to operate more innovatively and efficiently than we have in the past,” said Anderson. “In the spirit of innovation, our vision for this program is to have a head coach who serves as the CEO and is the central leader with a collaborative staff around him that will elevate the performance of our coaches and players on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Equally important, the head coach will be a dynamic and tireless recruiter.” (Courtesy of Mike Jurecki of ArizonaSports.com on Twitter).
Edwards, 63, is best known in the NFL for his tenure as head coach for both the Jets and Chiefs. He led New York to a 39-41 regular season record, including going 2-3 in postseason play. In Kansas City, the fiery head coach appeared in the playoffs once in three seasons before being fired after a tumultuous 2-14 campaign in 2008.
He has not coached at the collegiate level since 1989, when he was a secondary coach at San Jose State, but brings ample amount of experience during his time in the pro ranks.
Edwards had not been recently speculated for any openings in the NFL, but it’s always interesting to see how tenured professional coaches perform at the college level of the sport. While it’s a completely different game than what Edwards has been used to from coaching in the NFL, then being an analyst of the league for many years at ESPN, the veteran coach should bring a real brand recognition to the Pac-12 school.
Extra Points: Gronk, Eli, Barber, Peppers
Although the result of the Patriots-Bills game this afternoon was an expected New England victory, something rather surprising did happen during the fourth quarter of the contest. Up handily by 20 points, Tom Brady threw an interception to cornerback Tre’Davious White. However, when the rookie fell down after his return, tight end Rob Gronkowski clearly hit him in the head while he was just face down on the turf. Gronk was not thrown out because of his malicious action, but Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com was surprised he wasn’t and thinks further punishment could be coming for the star tight end.
Seifert points out in his piece that former NFL referee Dean Blandino said that Gronkowski should have been ejected for the hit and that he could “maybe” be in-line to miss game action for the incident.
The NFL will review the situation over the next 24 hours and see what type or if any discipline is needed. Gronkowski clearly lowered his shoulder into White well after the play was over, seeming upset that the 2017 first rounder picked off Brady in his direction. However, Seifert notes that the 28-year-old doesn’t really have a track record of misbehaving on the field, despite some minor incidents. The league will also take into account that Gronkowski apologized immediately after the game.
While the NFL did levy two-game suspensions to Aqib Talib and Michael Crabtree this past week, this situation is clearly different given that there was no history of bad blood between the two players, Though, it’s clear that the Pats All-pro was in the wrong and could miss time or at least get heavily fined because of his actions on the field today.
- Despite being benched for the remainder of the regular season, Eli Manning remained rather unequivocal when asked if he will suit up for another year in the league, according to Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com. “I plan on playing next season,” Manning said twice Sunday after the Giants‘ 24-17 loss to the Raiders. It’s more likely that the veteran signal caller won’t be back with the Giants after what’s transpired this past week. However, that doesn’t mean Manning won’t have his suitors. While he may be 37 years old heading into next season, the two-time Super Bowl winning QB should garner interest from a host of quarterback needy teams. Manning is clearly not the player he once was, but with the need at the position still so high around the league, his track record is tough to come by on the open market. He’s under contract with New York for 2018-19, but the front office could trade him at some point in the offseason or release him before March 18, 2018, when he is due a $5MM roster bonus.
- The Buccaneers lost their eighth game of the season when the Packers were able to seal the contest in overtime, but running back Peyton Barber was a major bright spot for the team, opines Roy Cummings of Florida Football Insiders. With Doug Martin out due to a concussion, the 23-year-old back carried the ball 23 times for 102 yards. Cummings points out that it was the team’s first 100 yard rushing effort from a tailback since late last season. In his second year since being undrafted out of Auburn, Barber’s performance on Sunday likely earned himself some more chances to impress in the final four weeks of the regular season.
- Browns rookie safety Jabrill Peppers injured his knee in the team’s game against the Chargers this afternoon, according to Pat McManamon of ESPN.com. Head coach Hue Jackson said that the first round pick will get an MRI tomorrow in order to assess just how serious the injury is. Cleveland has backup safeties Derron Smith and Kai Nacua should Peppers need to miss time.
NFC Notes: Bears, Stafford, Falcons, Ellerbe
The Bears most recent loss to San Francisco this afternoon has Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun Times asking, “What’s left to evaluate?” in terms of what the franchise should do this offseason.
Jahns asserts that change is inevitable and that losing to one of the worst teams in the NFL is just a sign that there needs to be at least somewhat of an overhaul in the organization from top to bottom.
The reporter also cites that the team is not handling themselves like a 3-9 roster, as they frequently post videos of themselves fooling around in the locker room and had a heated exchange in practice between current wide receiver Josh Bellamy and the recently released Tre McBride. Despite the walls seeming to close on him, head coach John Fox expressed that his team had a good week of preparation for their Week 13 contest.
“It was hard to even talk to the team after this loss,” Fox said. “We had a great week of preparation. The guys’ mindsets [are] good; they’re working at it.”
Chicago has its young signal caller in Mitch Trubisky, but big changes may be on the horizon elsewhere on the roster and coaching staff considering the troubles the team has gone through in 2017.
- Coming into Week 13 with a leg injury, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford also suffered “nerve-type damage” to his throwing hand during this afternoon’s game, according to Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. Meinke reports that while the 29-year-old signal caller didn’t suffer any breaks, but there was a lot of pain. “I couldn’t feel it too well, to tell you the truth,” Stafford said. “Had some, like, burning nerve pain, I didn’t know what it was going to be. But X-rays were negative.” With their loss today, Detroit will have to run the table in order to have a shot at the postseason, and it appears they’ll have to do it with their franchise signal caller not even close to full health.
- There’s going to be at least some shakeup in the Falcons coaching staff this offseason. Quarterbacks coach Bush Hamdan is leaving his position in Atlanta to become the new offensive coordinator at the University of Washington, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. The position became available after the school’s former offensive coordinator, Jonathan Smith, became the head coach at Oregon State. Hamdan will wait till the end of the Falcons season before he departs for his new job.
- Eagles linebacker Dannell Ellerbe is active for the first time this season for tonight’s game vs. Seattle, reports Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). The Eagles signed the veteran middle linebacker in the middle of November and he could see significant playing time because current Eagles starter Joe Walker is out with a neck injury. Ellerbe last played for New Orleans in Week 16 of the 2016-17 season.
Blaine Gabbert To Remain Cardinals QB
The Cardinals are clearly out of the playoff picture in the NFC after suffering another loss at the hands of the Rams. However, the team will stick with quarterback Blaine Gabbert, according to Darren Urban of ArizonaCardinals.com (Twitter link). Head coach Bruce Arians confirmed the news in his postgame presser, which makes it seem likely the 28-year-old will finish out the season in the leading position on the Cardinals QB depth chart.
Gabbert has started each of the team’s last three games with Carson Palmer likely out for the year with an arm injury. The former Jags and 49ers QB represents a younger option to fellow Arizona backup Drew Stanton, although both signal callers will be hitting free agency this coming offseason.
Palmer is still under contract for 2018, but it remains to be seen if he wants to continue playing after his most recent setback. The Cardinals could also choose to go in another direction this offseason with the bevy of starting caliber quarterbacks that may potentially become available.
Nevertheless, with Arizona’s QB position in-flux, Gabbert will get another chance to make his case for the team to bring him back for a quarterback competition next year. He’s shown glimpses this season, but has also made it easy to see at times why he’s already been on three teams since being drafted 10th overall in 2011.
Latest On Tyrod Taylor’s Injury
The Bills fell back to .500 this season after losing to the Pats this afternoon. Head coach Sean McDermott went back to his veteran quarterback Tyrod Taylor a week ago with some success, but saw his now starter leave game action once again today because of an injury to his knee. However, Taylor appears to have avoided a major setback, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Rapoport reports that Taylor has told people close to him that “he’s going to be OK”, but he will undergo tests tomorrow to know for certain that he’ll avoid major surgery.
Taylor, 28, has had a roller coaster type season so far. He’s led Buffalo to a 5-2 record, then was benched for his rookie backup, and now will have to deal with an injury for the rest of the regular season. Taylor’s numbers have been solid, but unspectacular this year, throwing for 12 touchdowns and three picks, while accumulating a QBR of 53.7.
The former sixth round pick restructured his contract this past offseason, which made the signal caller only under contract for the next two seasons. Originally the contract would have ran through 2021. Although, there is a potential out in the deal after this offseason for just a modest cap hit of $8.64MM, which for a QB is not too much money to move on from.
It seems likelier that the Bills will opt to release Taylor given what’s transpired this season. If that’s the case, this recent news indicates that he will likely go into free agency mostly healthy rather than needing the offseason to rehab a more long-term ailment.
AFC Notes: Peyton, Fuller, Big Ben, JuJu
Peyton Manning has taken a few years off from the game after his Super Bowl farewell in 2016. However, he’s been widely speculated to move into a team president type role as soon as he fills like jumping back into the industry, and there should a wide amount of interest in his services.
As part of his Friday column, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated mentioned that Manning would likely be on the top of the list for any team with an opening at the head of their football operations. He spoke to a source on the Broncos current staff who said that, “There’d honestly be no one better.”
Breer expressed that while the former Colts and Broncos signal caller doesn’t have any front office experience, he’s been preparing for the position for years as a player, specifically shadowing the actions of current Broncos football czar, John Elway. As a player, Manning always kept tabs on the draft, free agency and many of the other aspects that go into leading an NFL franchise. While there’s nothing like firsthand experience in that atmosphere, Manning has clearly demonstrated his vast knowledge of the game in the way he revolutionized the quarterback position during his time in the league.
“He’ll be extremely successful in anything he chooses to do because of the person is, how smart he is and how hard he works,” said one personnel man who worked with him in Indy. “He’ll be extremely well prepared, have done research on the job and have an understanding of what the job entails.
Breer speculates that the Browns would likely be clamoring to bring Manning aboard to lead their football operations, among pretty much any other front office needy franchise.
- The Texans have been without big play threat Will Fuller for the past two weeks and head coach Bill O’Brien doesn’t expect that to change in Week 13, reports Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The 2016 first round pick missed the opening part of the year with injury too, but sandwiched an outstanding run of games in which he scored six times in four contests. Barshop does note that the O’Brien didn’t entirely rule out the possibility of Fuller making a return in the final few weeks of the regular season.
- The Steelers are in a much different spot than the Giants at this point in time, but veteran QB Ben Roethlisberger opened up to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to discuss how he empathizes with the situation Eli Manning is going through right now. “It sparks the reality that that could be me,” Roethlisberger said. “They could do that to me next year or whenever, who knows? It’s eye-opening that you have to take every play, every game, don’t take it for granted, take it for what it is because you never know when you’re done.” However, while Big Ben and Eli were taken in the same draft and both have multiple Super Bowls to their credit, the Steelers signal caller doesn’t believe that the only team he’s ever known would treat him in the same way. “I don’t, and I don’t mean to talk negatively about the Giants, especially I know the Steelers and Giants are very close and are family, too. But I don’t think they would, I think they would handle it differently.” These are interesting comments considering Roethlisberger expressed some reservations about continuing to play this past offseason, and even though he’s recovered nicely from a unusually slow start, the fact that he’s thinking about these career questions shouldn’t be overlooked.
- On the field, Pittsburgh is expected to have rookie wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster back in the lineup for the team’s Monday night affair against the Bengals, according to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. The 21-year-old sat out last week’s victory over the Packers with an ankle injury, but returned to practice in-full on Thursday. He’ll likely continue to operate in the slot with Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant playing more on the boundaries.