Cowboys Place Dez Bryant, Others On IR
Dez Bryant‘s disappointing 2015 season will end a week early, as head coach Jason Garrett announced today that the star wideout is being placed on injured reserve (link via Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com). In addition to Bryant, defensive tackle David Irving and safety Barry Church will also head to IR, per Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link).
After going through an eventful offseason, which included receiving the franchise tag and eventually signing a lucrative long-term contract with the Cowboys, Bryant promptly had his season derailed by foot and ankle injuries, which limited him to the worst numbers of his career — in nine games, he caught just 31 balls for 401 yards and three touchdowns, all career lows.
According to Garrett, Bryant is expected to have surgery on both his foot and ankle over the course of the next week, tweets Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. That means both the Cowboys’ top wideout and starting quarterback could undergo procedures this offseason. Tony Romo indicated earlier this week that he may have a plate inserted to prevent further collarbone injuries.
As for the other two Cowboys who were placed on IR today, both of those moves had been expected. Church broke his right arm during Sunday’s game against Buffalo, while Irving sustained a fractured left wrist.
More Leftovers On Eagles’ Firing Of Chip Kelly
In the wake of Chip Kelly‘s dismissal, multiple reports on Tuesday suggested that the Eagles wanted to strip Kelly of his personnel control, and then decided to fire him when he balked. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) has heard that scenario isn’t accurate.
According to both Rapoport and Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (Twitter links), it doesn’t sound like there was any big event or dramatic moment that led to Kelly’s firing — owner Jeffrey Lurie simply called Kelly in and informed him of his decision.
While the build-up to Kelly’s firing may not have been dramatic, there has certainly been no shortage of reaction and follow-up to the move. We rounded several additional details and reactions to the story last night, but with many more surfacing since then, we’re doing it again. Let’s dive in….
- Albert Breer of the NFL Network (Twitter link) gets the sense that Lurie parted ways with Kelly to get the Eagles’ building back. Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News hears something similar, with a source telling him that Lurie wanted to “take back the team.”
- According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Kelly still had two years and $12.4MM left on his contract. If Kelly is hired by another team within the next two years, it would save the Eagles some money due to offset language in the deal.
- One Eagles player tells Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter links) that Kelly is “definitely someone who doesn’t communicate,” adding that he “wouldn’t make a few changes here and there to make the players better.”
- With Kelly gone, Sam Bradford‘s future in Philadelphia is up in the air, writes Dave Zangaro of CSNPhilly.com.
- Alex Marvez of FOX Sports identifies interim Eagles coach Pat Shurmur, Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, and Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub as three possible candidates to replace Kelly.
- What Lurie and the Eagles need more than a head coach is a smart, football-minded general manager who can fix the roster, says ESPN.com’s Ashley Fox. As David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News notes, Kelly may be gone, but the impact he had on the Eagles’ roster will linger.
Bears Put Alshon Jeffery, Eddie Goldman On IR
The Bears have placed a pair of starting players on injured reserve, officially ruling them out for Week 17. Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and defensive lineman Eddie Goldman have landed on IR, according to the team (Twitter link). To fill the openings on the 53-man roster, Chicago has signed defensive linemen Greg Scruggs and Terry Williams.
Jeffery, in the final year of his rookie contract, was slowed by injuries, which prevented him from putting up the type of numbers he had in past seasons. After averaging about 87 receptions, 1,277 yards, and eight touchdowns in 2013 and 2014, the 25-year-old recorded just 54 catches for 807 yards and four touchdowns this season.
Of course, Jeffery’s numbers don’t look too bad when taking into account that he only played nine games this season for the Bears — he actually established a new career-high in yards per game (89.7). As he approaches possible free agency, the Bears will have a tough decision to make, as they consider whether to use the franchise tag on the standout receiver to keep him from hitting the open market.
As for Goldman, the rookie defender, selected in the second round of this year’s draft out of Florida, had a solid first season in Chicago, logging 22 tackles to go along with 4.5 sacks. His ankle injury isn’t expected to require surgery.
Bill Polian Not Interested In Formal Role With Bills
Former NFL general manager and current ESPN analyst Bill Polian is happy to offer suggestions and ideas for how to improve the Bills, as he did last week, but he isn’t interested in any sort of formal role in the team’s front office, he tells John Murphy of BuffaloBills.com.
“Anything I could do to help in any way, I would,” Polian said on Tuesday. “But any kind of a formal role is absolutely precluded. Nor am I seeking that. I’m very happy with what I’m doing at ESPN.”
While there were indications last week that Polian might consider a consulting role with the Bills, he made it clear to Murphy that he’ll only talk to Buffalo or any another NFL team about football matters on an informal basis.
“There was a question later on which related to consulting, and which I misunderstood,” Polian said. “The committee on which I serve, the NFL Personnel Development Committee, has members – Charley Casserly, Ron Wolf, Ernie Accorsi – who frequently serve as consultants to teams when they go through the hiring process. And I made it clear that even though some teams have asked me to do that in the past, I can’t do it because of the terms of my ESPN contract. That prohibits me from doing that.”
Given Polian’s history with the Bills and his relationship with team owner Terry Pegula, rumors and reports have frequently linked the Hall of Fame NFL executive to Buffalo. A year ago, there were indications that the Bills talked to Polian about bringing him aboard either in an advisory role or as a top front office executive, but he ultimately decided to stay at ESPN. While Polian doesn’t plan on officially joining the Bills anytime soon, he still wants to see the franchise succeed.
“If anybody asks, sure. If anyone has questions, I’m happy to answer and happy to help in any way I can. And that includes whatever I could do for the community,” Polian said, referring to his conversations with Pegula. “I’m going to make a speech this spring in the community. Things I can do along those lines, I’m very happy to do. I want the Bills to do well. That’s the overarching message — I want the Bills to do well.”
North Notes: Greenway, Lions, Browns
Veteran linebacker and two-time Pro Bowler Chad Greenway has spent his entire nine-year NFL career with the Vikings, and he wants to return to the team for the 2016 season, according to Jim Souhan of The Star Tribune.
“I want to enjoy this moment, and enjoy the playoffs,” Greenway said. “To me, it rejuvenates you as an athlete and a person to go through this and have this in front of you. I’m probably going to play next year. To go through a year like we’ve gone through and to be part of this has been really fun.”
While Greenway sounds committed to continuing his playing career, he doesn’t want to play for a team besides Minnesota, so the Vikings would have to be willing to have him in 2016. The linebacker, who will turn 33 next month, is in the final year of a contract and is earning a $3.4MM salary to go along with a $5.575MM cap hit in 2015, so I suspect the Vikes would be on board with his return if they could reduce both of those numbers a little for next year.
Here’s more from out of the NFL’s North divisions:
- As the Lions search for a new general manager and possibly a new head coach as well, it’s crucial that those two figures share a philosophy and can co-exist without any friction, writes Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com.
- It’s difficult to support the idea that the Browns should retain coach Mike Pettine for 2016, Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer writes.
- Per Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link), the Browns are the latest team to work out standout CFL wide receiver Eric Rogers, who is reportedly in the midst of visiting 14 NFL clubs.
- Eddie Goldman‘s ankle injury figures to end his season, but it’s not expected to require surgery, and the arrow is pointing up for the Bears defensive tackle, as Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune outlines.
Tom Coughlin Unlikely To Remain With Giants
While one NFC East team parted ways with its head coach on Tuesday, it doesn’t appear the Giants will emulate the head Eagles and announce a decision on their own coach until next week. However, according to Jordan Raanan of NJ.com, the odds of Tom Coughlin remaining with New York for the 2016 season are “slim, at best.”
The thinking within the Giants’ organization, per Raanan, is that the club could have won a few more games this year if Coughlin had been at the top of his game. In laying out the potential scenarios for coaching and/or front office changes, Raanan suggests that replacing Coughlin and keeping GM Jerry Reese is the most likely outcome in New York, since the team simply doesn’t fire general managers.
If Coughlin departs, whether that means the Giants firing him or the veteran head coach announcing his retirement, the team will have to address what to do with offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo. When McAdoo assumed his current role two years ago, he was viewed as a possible long-term replacement for Coughlin, and he has done some good work with Eli Manning. However, the club may not think he’s ready for a head coaching job quite yet, and a new head coach may want to bring in his own offensive coordinator.
Whatever the Giants decide, it seems inevitable that change will be coming to the team within the next week or so. Raanan writes that standing pat is the least likely scenario for the Giants, adding that it’s “close to incomprehensible at this point.”
Details, Fallout On Eagles’ Firing Of Chip Kelly
The Eagles’ decision to part ways with head coach – and de facto GM – Chip Kelly was Tuesday’s biggest piece of news, so it’s no surprise that reports since then have been adding new details to the story, exploring the fallout, and looking ahead to the next steps for both Kelly and the Eagles. We’ve got plenty of Kelly-related material to get to, so let’s dive right in…
Details:
- Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie “apparently” spoke to some players before making the decision to fire Kelly, says Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). However, both McLane and Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link) talked to several Eagles players who said they had no idea the move was coming.
- When running back DeMarco Murray spoke to Lurie recently, he expressed a lack of confidence in Kelly, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link) notes that Lurie already knew that the locker room wasn’t thrilled with Kelly and his methods, so that was nothing new, but the situation reached a breaking point.
- According to McLane (Twitter link), Lurie and Kelly had a meeting today that didn’t go well, with the decision to fire the head coach coming shortly thereafter. ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio has heard something similar, reporting that Kelly balked at the idea of ceding personnel control in a recent meeting with Lurie (link via Pro Football Talk).
- However, Jordan Raanan of NJ.com (Twitter links) says he wasn’t able to confirm the rumor that the Eagles wanted to strip Kelly’s personnel power, and Garafolo (Twitter link) adds that word out of Philadelphia suggests the team didn’t make Kelly an offer to remain as head coach without that personnel power.
- James Harris, Kelly’s “chief of staff,” was also let go by the Eagles today, according to Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News (Twitter link).
Fallout:
- Kelly insists he wants to remain in the NFL, rather than go back to college, and says that at his next stop he just wants to coach, rather than overseeing personnel decisions as well, reports Jay Glazer of FOX Sports (Twitter links). Of course, as Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com observes (via Twitter), Kelly said he wasn’t interested in making personnel calls when he joined the Eagles as well.
- The Dolphins are a team that will be in the market for a head coach this winter, so James Walker of ESPN.com and Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald explore whether or not the team should pursue Kelly. Neither scribe views him as a great fit for Miami.
- Rapoport (Twitter link) heard from a high-ranking Titans source several weeks ago that Kelly wasn’t on the team’s list of head coaching candidates since he was under contract. Now that that’s no longer the case, perhaps Kelly will be added to Tennessee’s list of possible targets, though Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com is unconvinced he’d be the answer for the Titans.
- Albert Breer of the NFL Network and Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter links) offer of a couple of potential Eagles head coaching targets, with Breer naming Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott and Mosher identifying Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase.
Bills Notes: Carpenter, Gillislee, Harvin, Easley
Bills coach Rex Ryan indicated that he has some pause about keeping kicker Dan Carpenter for next season, although it would take a worthy replacement to push him off the roster, as Mike Rodak of ESPN.com writes. Carpenter has now missed five extra points on the season.
After converting 91.7% of his field goals upon arriving in Buffalo in 2013, Carpenter signed a four-year extension in March 2014 that included $2.15MM in guaranteed money. The Bills can save $1.7625MM by cutting Carpenter after this season, including a $250K roster bonus that they can avoid paying if he’s released prior to the seventh day of the 2016 league year.
As Tyler Dunne of The Buffalo News details, Ryan provided a few more noteworthy tidbits on the Bills this week, so let’s round them up…
- Ryan expects running back Mike Gillislee to be a part of next year’s roster. “Without question, he’s a guy, him, Karlos [Williams], LeSean McCoy, we’re in good hands there” Ryan said. “Maybe we look to expand his role on special teams. Could be something we look into.”
- Asked about Percy Harvin, Ryan said he has talked to the wide receiver once and texted with him a few times and “gets the sense” he wants to play. There were rumors earlier in the season that Harvin was contemplating retirement.
- Wide receiver Marcus Easley was placed on injured reserve by the Bills this week, and it sounds like he’ll have a long road back to full health. Calling the knee injury a “major, major” one, Ryan explained that Easley dislocated his knee cap and broke his knee in three spots.
AFC South Notes: Pagano, Colts, Titans
Head coach Chuck Pagano turned down a one-year extension from Colts owner Jim Irsay in the offseason that included a modest raise but he says that he has no regrets about that, as Amanda Rakes of CBS4 writes.
Pagano has had a rough year with Andrew Luck sidelined for a good portion of the season, but his ground-and-pound method hasn’t worked either, as Indianapolis is tied for 30th in both rushing yards (1,211) and per-carry average (3.6). The Colts have also been dismal through the air, coming in at 31st in yards per attempt (6.4) and 29th in rating (77.6).
Here’s more from out of the AFC South:
- It’s hard to pin down what Irsay’s offseason plans are for the Colts, but fans shouldn’t necessarily bet on general manager Ryan Grigson being let go, says Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star.
- A general manager change could be in the works in Tennessee, so Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com identifies some potential GM candidates the Titans could consider if they move on from Ruston Webster.
- Veteran safety Michael Griffin has spent nine years and 140 games with the Titans, but with his cap hit set to increase to $8.3MM in 2016, the second-highest charge on the team, he knows that his future in Tennessee is uncertain. Griffin spoke to Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com about his situation, acknowledging that “there’s never a guarantee for next year.”
- If the Titans don’t re-sign Byron Bell, they could decide to select a tackle with their first overall pick, speculates Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). Tennessee can secure the No. 1 pick with a Week 17 loss.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Bills Place Charles Clay On IR
The Bills have placed a pair of players on the injured reserve list, announcing today that they’re sending tight end Charles Clay and cornerback Ron Brooks to IR (Twitter link via Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News).
After inking a massive five-year contract with the Bills in the offseason, Clay was limited to 13 games this year, as he battled knee and back issues. In his first season in Buffalo, Clay caught 51 balls for 528 yards and three touchdowns. Those numbers look similar to the ones he posted in 2014 in Miami – 58 receptions, 605 yards, three TDs – but the Bills were likely expecting more production from the veteran tight end after inking him to a $38MM offer sheet.
With a $10MM roster bonus owed to him in 2016, Clay will likely have his contract restructured in the offseason, but he’s not going anywhere for now, since that money is fully guaranteed.
As for Brooks, the defensive back who contributes primarily on special teams will be eligible for free agency at season’s end, so he may have played his last game with the Bills. His 2015 season came to an early end due to a neck injury.