Lions Fire Martin Mayhew, Tom Lewand
1:11pm: Speaking to the media this afternoon, Martha Ford announced that Sheldon White, the Lions’ director of pro personnel, will act as interim general manager. Allison Maki will be the acting COO, and there will be no changes to the coaching staff at this time, per Ford (link via Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com). The team will soon begin a search for candidates to fill the positions permanently.
11:16am: The Lions’ front office received a major shake-up today, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the organization has parted ways with general manager Martin Mayhew and president Tom Lewand.
Just 10 days ago, the Lions made significant changes to their coaching staff, firing offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and a pair of offensive line coaches. Detroit had hoped the changes to the offensive coaching staff would jump-start the team, but reports in the wake of those moves suggested it was possible those wouldn’t be the last ones made by the team this season.
Albert Breer of the NFL Network noted at the time (via Twitter) that there had been “rumblings around the league about larger-scale changes in Detroit,” since Martha Ford is now in charge of the ownership group, and observers weren’t sure what to expect from her. It now appears those rumblings were well-founded, as ownership is making large-scale changes to the organizational structure.
While teams typically wait until the offseason to replace general managers and other decision-makers in the front office, the Lions had been one of the most underachieving teams in the NFL this season, and it appeared to be just a matter of time before the other shoe dropped. Coming off an 11-5 campaign that earned them a playoff berth in 2014, the Lions are off to a league-worst 1-7 start this year, and have been outscored by 96 points in just eight games.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), there’s a “total wipeout” happening in Detroit today, with bosses “going through the building deciding who stays and goes.” So it appears Mayhew and Lewand won’t be the only casualties.
For now, head coach Jim Caldwell still has his job, though he’s hardly a lock to keep it. The Lions may want to identify a new general manager before replacing Caldwell, to give that new GM an opportunity to make the decision on Caldwell’s future, and potentially to hire his own man for the job.
Matt Miller of Bleacher Report tweets that one “hot” name for the Lions’ GM vacancy – at least on an interim basis – is Brian Xanders, who is currently a senior personnel executive for the club. Whoever takes over that role will have several key decisions to make in the coming months, including deciding whether to extend Haloti Ngata, and possibly addressing Matthew Stafford‘s and Calvin Johnson‘s contracts. Stafford has been extremely inconsistent this season and is owed a non-guaranteed $17MM base salary in 2016, while Megatron’s cap number is set to leap to $24MM+.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Matthew Stafford’s Future With Lions In Doubt
Amidst a coaching and front office upheaval in Detroit, one key player’s future with the organization appears unsettled as well. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), Matthew Stafford‘s future with the Lions is “very much in doubt” beyond the 2015 season, as Rapoport understands it. GM Martin Mayhew said last week that the idea of the Lions jettisoning Stafford in the offseason was “comical,” but Mayhew is no longer in charge of that decision, having been fired today.
Stafford, 27, is completing passes at a career-high 64.5% rate, but he has already nearly matched last year’s interception total in just a half-season, and his yards per completion average is the lowest it has been since 2010. With the Lions having sputtered to a 1-7 record following last year’s postseason berth, Stafford is among the players who will shoulder the share of the blame for the team’s poor season, particularly if he doesn’t turn things around under new offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter.
While Stafford has shown in the past that he’s capable of posting huge numbers – most notably throwing for more than 5,000 yards and 40 touchdowns in 2011 – the Lions’ new management group may want to make a change at the position, and Stafford would be a valuable trade chip to accumulate draft picks for a retooling process.
While Stafford is under contract through the 2017 season, his deal doesn’t feature any more guaranteed money after this year. If a team were to acquire him in a trade, that club would take on base salaries (and cap hits) of $17MM in 2016 and $16.5MM in 2017. A quarterback with a résumé like Stafford’s, along with a palatable contract that has more than one year left on it, could fetch multiple high draft picks in a deal.
Of course, depending on how the rest of the season plays out, and depending on who takes over for Martin Mayhew as the Lions’ new GM, the team may ultimately decide it makes more sense to hang onto its starting quarterback. This looks like a situation worth monitoring as the offseason approaches, however.
Giants Place Owa Odighizuwa On IR-DTR
The Giants have become the 23rd NFL team to use their IR-DTR slot this season, announcing today in a press release that they’ve placed defensive end Owa Odighizuwa on injured reserve with the designation to return. The move ensures that Odighizuwa won’t be eligible to practice for six weeks and will have to miss eight weeks of games, meaning he’ll be eligible to return for Week 17.
Odighizuwa, 23, was selected by the Giants in the third round of the 2015 draft, but hasn’t seen the field much in his rookie season. Appearing in four games, Odighizuwa has recorded three tackles, and will now be sidelined for most of the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.
To fill the roster spot vacated by Odighizuwa, the Giants have promoted tight end Jerome Cunningham to their 53-man roster. With Larry Donnell unlikely to play this weekend, the Giants needed to add an extra tight end to their roster to complement rookie Will Tye, who is currently the only healthy player at the position for the team.
Although the Giants’ 53-man squad is full again for now, the club may need to make another cut later this week, with Jason Pierre-Paul aiming to return to action for Sunday’s game against the Bucs.
South Notes: Colts, Martin, Saints, Texans
Having fired offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton and replacing him with Rob Chudzinski earlier this week, Colts head coach Chuck Pagano explained on Wednesday that he felt he had no choice but to make a move to try to shake up a stagnant offense, as Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star writes.
“I think when you keep seeing the same thing over and over again, through the course of time, we needed a change,” Pagano said. “We’ve got the talent, the grit and the character (to win), and this was something I just felt like we needed to do.”
While we look forward to seeing if the move pays dividends in the short term, let’s round up some other items from out of the NFL’s South divisions….
- The Colts are paying linebacker Josh Martin more than $34K weekly, making him the highest-paid practice squad player in the NFL, tweets Field Yates of ESPN.com. As Yates observes, the salary is the same as Martin would earn if he were on the team’s 53-man roster.
- Mike Triplett of ESPN.com examines four of the Saints‘ most noteworthy trades from 2015, evaluating how acquisitions of Kenny Stills, Max Unger, and others are working out so far for New Orleans. Triplett views two of those deals as wins for the Saints, and says the other two are also looking good so far.
- Weighing in reports of discord between his general manager and head coach when it came to releasing Ryan Mallett, Texans owner Bob McNair denied that Rick Smith and Bill O’Brien disagreed on how to handle the team’s former backup quarterback. “If they disagree on something they come to me,” McNair said, per John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. “They’ve never come to me.”
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/4/15
Here are Wednesday’s practice squad signings and cuts from around the NFL, updated throughout the day:
Baltimore Ravens
- Cut: TE Konrad Reuland (Twitter link via team)
Buffalo Bills
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: CB Brandon Dixon (Twitter link via Evan Woodbery of the New Orleans Times-Picayune)
New York Giants
- Cut: G Adam Gettis (Twitter link via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News)
New York Jets
- Signed: WR Shane Wynn (Twitter link via Brian Costello of the New York Post)
- Cut: FB Julian Howsare
San Diego Chargers
- Signed: DE Ben Gardner (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: LB Quayshawn Nealy, DE Ronald Powell (press release via team)
AFC South Notes: Titans, Webster, Colts
It’s been an eventful week in the AFC South, where two teams have made coaching changes, with the Titans firing head coach Ken Whisenhunt and the Colts parting ways with offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton. Our round-up of division links this afternoon focuses primarily on those two teams – and those coaching moves – so let’s dive in and check out the latest….
- Whisenhunt’s firing could be the first of many major moves for the Titans‘ franchise over the next several months, writes Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. La Canfora doesn’t expect general manager Ruston Webster to continue on with the team through 2016, noting that many rival clubs couldn’t find much talent on the Tennessee roster worth pursuing before the trade deadline. And while the team’s ownership group continues to insist the franchise isn’t for sale, there’s skepticism around the league on that front as well.
- Rumors of a potential Marcus Mariota/Chip Kelly pairing in Philadelphia dominated the news cycle prior to – and during – this year’s draft. Now that the Titans‘ permanent head coaching job is available, could such a reunion happen in Tennessee? I wouldn’t expect Kelly to get serious consideration for the role, or to have real interest in leaving the Eagles, but the Titans could pursue the possibility after the season if they so choose, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk details.
- Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com identifies seven more realistic potential choices for the Titans‘ full-time head coaching position.
- Given their struggles this season, the Colts had to make a change at some point, and Hamilton was the easiest person to fire at this point in the season, says Mike Wells of ESPN.com. One person in the organization tells Wells that they’d been asking Hamilton to play with tempo for more than two weeks. However, those suggestions “weren’t being received.”
- Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star views Hamilton as a fall guy, though he doesn’t think the former OC is entirely blameless for the Colts‘ disappointing first half. In Doyel’s view though, GM Ryan Grigson bears more responsibility for Indianapolis’ underachieving performance.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/4/15
With the 2015 trade deadline now behind us, NFL teams will have one less tool at their disposal to try to upgrade their rosters. We can expect plenty more signings and cuts in the coming weeks though. Here are today’s minor transactions from across the league:
- The Raiders have signed receiver and return man Marcus Thigpen, according to Bill Williamson of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Thigpen, who has already spent time with the Bills and Colts this season, will get a chance to take over return duties in Oakland.
- The Browns have placed tight end Rob Housler on injured reserve, promoting defensive back De’Ante Saunders from the practice squad to replace him on the roster, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). Housler caught just one pass for the club before seeing his season derailed by a hamstring issue.
- After moving Clinton McDonald to their injured reserve list on Tuesday, the Buccaneers have added another defensive lineman, announcing in a press release that they’ve signed Lawrence Sidbury. Sidbury, who initially joined the Bucs last December, has never been an NFL starter, but appeared in 48 games for the Falcons in the first four years of his career.
- The Chargers announced a slew of roster moves on Tuesday, and they capped that series of transactions today by promoting defensive lineman Damion Square to their 53-man roster, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Square is one of four new players on San Diego’s roster this week.
- Having cut running back Joseph Randle on Tuesday, the Cowboys signed running back Trey Williams off Washington‘s practice squad to fill the hole in the backfield, according to Rapoport (via Twitter). Williams, who has yet to see a regular-season snap, figures to fight Rod Smith for the No. 3 role behind Darren McFadden and Christine Michael.
- The Steelers have elevated cornerback Doran Grant from their practice squad to the active roster, waiving QB/WR Tyler Murphy in a corresponding move, the team announced today.
Rams’ Trey Watts Suspended Indefinitely
Rams running back Trey Watts has once again been suspended for violating the league’s policy on substances of abuse, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com (via Twitter). After being banned for four games earlier this year, Watts has been suspended indefinitely for his latest violation.
Watts, who joined the Rams in 2014 as an undrafted free agent out of Tulsa, earned a spot on the club’s regular season roster in his rookie year. He didn’t see the field much, but the 24-year-old received a handful of offensive snaps, rushing seven times for 30 yards and catching three passes for 18 yards. Watts also contributed on special teams, recording seven tackles in kick and punt coverage.
When his first four-game suspension was announced this year, I speculated that it might cost Watts his spot on the roster, with Todd Gurley, Tre Mason, Benny Cunningham, and others in the mix in the Rams’ backfield. The team did cut Watts after he served his suspension, but brought him back to the practice squad, and promoted him to the 53-man roster again a couple weeks ago.
This time around, Watts will land on the Rams’ reserve/suspended list indefinitely, opening up a spot for St. Louis to add a new player to its roster.
NFC Notes: JPP, Bradford, 49ers, Megatron
Jason Pierre-Paul is practicing for the Giants, and while the team had initially been eyeing a Week 10 showdown with the undefeated Patriots as a target date for JPP’s return to the field, it sounds like he could play in Week 9 against the Buccaneers (Twitter link via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News).
As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (via Twitter), Pierre-Paul’s one-year deal with the Giants was set up to be based on seven weeks’ worth of playing-time incentives and per-game roster bonuses. However, if JPP makes his season debut this weekend, he would have eight weeks to try to earn those bonuses and incentives.
As we wait to see if Pierre-Paul is activated for the Giants’ next game, let’s round up some more odds and ends from across the NFC….
- If the Eagles offered Sam Bradford a four-year contract extension at some point, it sounds like that’s news to him, as the veteran quarterback told reporters today (Twitter link via Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer). “That offer must have gotten lost in the mail,” Bradford said.
- Colin Kaepernick likely hasn’t started his last game for the 49ers, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link), who says that the team hopes to get the quarterback back on the field in the second half, believing he has too much talent to simply give up on him. While the Niners may feel that way today, continued ineffectiveness from Kaepernick down the stretch could result in him being traded or even released in the offseason.
- Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap, writing for The Sporting News, sounds more skeptical that Kaepernick will see much playing time during the remainder of the 2015 season, and suggests the 49ers will likely find a way to move on from their quarterback in the offseason.
- Asked if he asked the Lions to consider moving him prior to the trade deadline, wide receiver Calvin Johnson replied that he hasn’t thought about anything like that, according to Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press. “No, I haven’t got to a point where I’ve said that,” Johnson said. “I’m just always trying to play ball. I love my teammates, so that hasn’t crossed my mind.”
- Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane is on track to return to practice next Monday after spending the season’s first nine weeks on the physically unable to perform list, writes Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk. Lane’s return to practice would begin a three-week clock for the Seahawks to either move him to the active roster or shut him down for the year.
Lions Place DeAndre Levy On IR
After a few weeks of deliberation, the Lions have decided to place linebacker DeAndre Levy on the injured reserve list, ending his 2015 season, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (via Twitter). With the newly-opened roster spot, the club officially signed linebacker James-Michael Johnson, whose deal was reported yesterday.
Levy, 28, made his season debut in a Week 5 blowout loss to the Cardinals, but aggravated the hip injury that had kept him sidelined for the first several weeks of the season. Although he said after the game that he didn’t think this injury was as bad as the strained muscle he suffered in August, he underwent surgery on the hip, and the Lions ultimately made the decision to shut him down for the year.
In 2014, Levy established a new career high in tackles, racking up 155 stops to go along with 2.5 sacks, five passes defended, and an interception. So it didn’t come as a surprise that the team signed him to a four-year, $33MM contract extension in August that, at the time, made the former third-round pick the highest-paid 4-3 outside linebacker in the league.
The timing of the extension was good for Levy, whose stock would’ve dipped this winter if he became a free agent coming off his troublesome hip issue. As is, he’ll return to Detroit next season ready to play the first year of his new four-year deal, which keeps him under team control through 2019.