NFC Notes: Niners, Kaepernick, Saints
When asked about a report that he got into an altercation with left tackle Joe Staley, 49ers tight end Vernon Davis offered up a denial, as Eric Branch of The San Francisco Chronicle writes.
“I don’t recall that,” Davis said “I don’t know where that’s coming from. It’s funny to me. He’s been like a brother to me… We’ve had arguments in the past. My first year, I remember, I came here and we got into it. We got into right then and seconds later we were hanging out, laughing and drinking sodas together.”
While Davis claims the incident didn’t happen, several reporters have suggested that a skirmish between Staley and Davis arose after the tight end called out quarterback Colin Kaepernick in a players-only meeting. Here’s more on the Niners, along with a few other NFC teams:
- 49ers CEO Jed York and GM Trent Baalke should step up right now and squash the rumblings about Kaepernick’s future with the organization, Tim Kawakami of The Mercury News writes. Kawakami feels that the front office can put the QB’s mind at ease by saying that the Niners still plan on building around him, but the team yet to do so. The franchise also allowed speculation to run rampant over ex-coach Jim Harbaugh, whom some might say was San Francisco’s best coach in decades.
- In his latest piece for TheMMQB.com, former Packers executive Andrew Brandt examines a pair of NFC East defensive ends, writing that the Cowboys will be negotiating against themselves if they try to extend Greg Hardy, and suggesting that Jason Pierre-Paul‘s fireworks accident will likely end up costing him about $7-10MM in salary this season.
- When the Saints traded defensive lineman Akiem Hicks to New England for tight end Michael Hoomanawanui earlier this season, many pundits didn’t like the deal for New Orleans. However, as Larry Holder of the New Orleans Times-Picayune writes, Hoomanawanui has seen more playing time than Hicks on his new team, and has allowed the Saints to bring a new wrinkle to their offense, with multiple three-tight-end sets.
- The Saints tried out defensive back Brandon Dixon on Thursday, according to a source who spoke with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link).
Zach Links contributed to this post.
NFL Investigating Jeremiah Ratliff Incident
4:56pm: Agent Mark Slough has released the following statement on behalf of Ratliff (TwitLonger link via Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report):
“Jeremiah has no recollection or memory of saying anything that has been reported in the police report. Jeremiah is receiving care in Dallas for a football-related medical condition that arose out of the game on the 18th with Detroit. The primary focus right now is on Jeremiah’s cognitive health. I would also like to reiterate that the reports that Jeremiah showed up at Halas Hall inebriated are utterly and completely false.”
2:47pm: The NFL is investigating the Jeremiah Ratliff situation, according to a league spokesperson (Twitter link via Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com). It’s not clear if Ratliff could face discipline from the NFL as a result of the investigation, but based on the details that surfaced today from a police report, it certainly sounds as if he may have run afoul of the league’s personal conduct policy.
Ratliff reportedly showed up last Wednesday in no condition to practice, prompting the Bears to send him home. After the team made the decision to release him, Ratliff returned to the club’s practice facility, saying at one point that “he felt like killing everybody in the building,” according to Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune, who cited a report from the Lake Forest Police Department.
Ratliff left Halas Hall and returned again later, at which time he reportedly said, “I am the devil” and said that he “wished [a] staff member’s children would die.” Although no charges were filed against Ratliff, the Bears did call local police, with team officials alerting the Lake Forest P.D. of their belief that the 34-year-old owns multiple firearms, according to Campbell.
Whether or not the NFL decides to fine or suspend Ratliff for the incident, it seems unlikely that the veteran defensive lineman will get an opportunity from another team this season. Having burned bridges in Dallas and now Chicago, the four-time Pro Bowler doesn’t appear to be worth the risk as an in-season addition.
Ratliff previously served a three-game suspension to start the 2015 season for violating the league’s policy and program for substances of abuse.
Dolphins’ Cameron Wake Has Torn Achilles
2:28pm: The Dolphins have officially confirmed the diagnosis on Wake, and will place him on the injured reserve list in the coming days (Twitter link via James Walker of ESPN.com).
8:36am: As if their 36-7 loss at the hands of the divisional-rival Patriots on Thursday night wasn’t bad enough, the Dolphins appear to have lost their top pass rusher to a season-ending injury during the game.
After Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald wrote last night that the Dolphins feared a ruptured left Achilles for defensive end Cameron Wake, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com confirms today (via Twitter) that is indeed a torn Achilles for Wake, who will miss the rest of the season.
Wake, 33, got off to a slow start this year, along with most of the rest of the Dolphins, but was a force over the last few weeks, following Dan Campbell’s hiring as interim coach. Despite not being able to finish his third game under Campbell due to his Achilles injury, Wake racked up seven sacks in those three weeks, including one takedown of Tom Brady on Thursday night.
Given his age, his contract, and the serious nature of the injury, there’s a possibility that Wake has played his last down for Miami. The four-time Pro Bowler, who has been with the team since 2009, has one year remaining on his contract, but his cap hit in 2016 will be $9.8MM, so the Dolphins will have to be pretty confident he can make a full recovery and be productive next season in order to bring him back. If the club were to cut him in the offseason, it would create $8.4MM in cap savings.
For now, the Dolphins will have to find a way to fill the pass-rushing void created by Wake’s injury. Derrick Shelby appears likely to slide into the starting lineup for Wake, while the team will also rely more heavily on Olivier Vernon to get to the quarterback.
Jets Activate Stevan Ridley From PUP
Less than a week after falling to the Patriots, the Jets have activated a former New England running back. The team announced today (via Twitter) that it has moved Stevan Ridley from the physically unable to perform list to the active roster, waiving wide receiver Chris Owusu with an injured designation.
Ridley, 26, compiled 340 yards and two touchdowns on 94 rushing attempts last season for the Patriots before suffering an ACL and MCL injury that sidelined him for the rest of the year. The recovery timetable for that injury stretched into the 2015 preseason and the first several weeks of the regular season, prompting the Jets to put Ridley on the PUP list after signing him back in April.
Chris Ivory has been bothered by a minor hamstring injury, but he’s expected to play this week, and has averaged 100 yards per game in his five contests this season. With Bilal Powell sidelined due to an ankle issue, Ridley will likely split backup duties with Zac Stacy.
While Ridley won’t necessarily be counted on to have a significant role in the Jets’ offense, he has a decent track record, having racked up 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground back in 2012. Fumbling issues reduced his playing time in New England, but the Jets were willing to give him a little guaranteed money – along with $350K in per-game roster bonuses – on his one-year deal, so they’ll certainly use him in the second half of the season.
As for Owusu, he has been bothered by concussion issues throughout his playing career. He’ll revert to the Jets’ injured reserve list, assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers and the team doesn’t work out an injury settlement with him.
North Notes: Ratliff, Lions, Levy, Ravens
Veteran defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff is currently a free agent, free to sign with any NFL team, but as details continue to trickle out about last week’s incident at Halas Hall, it appears increasingly unlikely that another team will give him a shot this season.
Ratliff showed up last Wednesday in no condition to practice, prompting the Bears to send him home. After the team made the decision to cut him, Ratliff returned to the club’s practice facility, saying at one point that “he felt like killing everybody in the building,” according to Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune, citing a report from Lake Forest Police.
Ratliff left Halas Hall and returned again later, at which time he reportedly said, “I am the devil” and that he “wished staff member’s children would die.” Although no charges were filed against Ratliff, the Bears did call local police, with team officials alerting police of their belief that the 34-year-old owns multiple firearms, according to Campbell.
As the Bears attempt to move on from last week’s incident, let’s check in on some other items from out of the NFL’s North divisions….
- The idea that the Lions may consider parting with quarterback Matthew Stafford after this season is “comical,” GM Martin Mayhew told reporters today, including Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Mayhew also dismissed the possibility of a Calvin Johnson trade: “Both of those guys are very important to what we’re doing as a franchise, great people off the field, great teammates. And both of those guys have Hall of Fame potential. So to say that we should move those guys doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
- DeAndre Levy, recovering from hip surgery, may not see the field again this season after playing just 17 regular season snaps. However, Mayhew doesn’t regret locking up the Lions linebacker to a long-term extension prior to the season, as Birkett writes. “He’s not the first guy to sign an extension and get hurt. That happens sometimes,” Mayhew said. “You hate when it happens, but certainly through no fault of his own. It’s a serious injury that he’s dealing with.”
- It was a busy day for Mayhew, who also said that he expects the Lions to be buyers, not sellers, at next week’s trade deadline.
- The Ravens‘ front office and coaching staff have received no phone calls and just one text message from Terrell Suggs since the veteran pass rusher tore his Achilles a month and a half ago, writes Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun. GM Ozzie Newsome says he isn’t worried about the lack of communication with Suggs, who may be rehabbing on his own, adding that he expects the 33-year-old to return to the team next season.
GM: Lions Buyers, Not Sellers, At Deadline
No team in the NFL has a record worse than the Lions’ 1-6 mark, but that doesn’t mean Detroit is packing it in for the season. Speaking today in London, general manager Martin Mayhew told reporters, including Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, that his club won’t go into rebuilding mode at next week’s trade deadline.
“We’re going to be probably more buyers than sellers and we’ve had some dialogue already about some guys around the league,” Mayhew said. “So we’re actively looking at those situations.”
Given the Lions’ record, Mayhew’s comments don’t make a ton of sense. Detroit would have to win just about all of its remaining games to contend for a playoff spot, so the GM insisting that the team is a buyer, rather than a seller, suggests he’s under some pressure to win now. For what it’s worth, Birkett notes that Mayhew “sounded like a man fighting to keep his job” during his conversation with the media.
According to Birkett, Mayhew also addressed the recent coaching changes on the offensive side of the ball, suggesting that former offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and the two offensive line coaches that were let go shouldn’t shoulder all the responsibility for the Lions’ poor season.
“Everybody’s involved in what has happened thus far this season, especially myself,” Mayhew said. “I’m responsible for our football operations, so it is on me what has happened this season. So it certainly is not those three guys (that were fired) are not the problem, they’re not the sole problem. There’s a lot of things we need to do to get better.”
Mayhew, who looked to his watch for effect today when he said that he’s “the GM right now,” has a history of being active on the trade market. In a league that typically doesn’t see many deadline deals, Mayhew has completed three in the last seven years. The Lions GM has also consummated eight trades so far in 2015, so we’ll see if he adds to that total by next Tuesday.
AFC North Notes: Manziel, Burfict, Rice
Earlier this afternoon, we learned that Steve Smith‘s agent, Derrick Fox, isn’t entirely convinced that the Ravens wideout will retire at season’s end. That’s not the only news out of the AFC North today though, so let’s dive in and round up a few more items…
- Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel is not expected to receive discipline from the NFL for his role in an off-field incident earlier this month, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). However, the league has maintained that its investigation isn’t yet complete, so there’s no official word on Manziel yet.
- Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who opened the season on the physically unable to perform list, returned to practice today, as Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. Burfict won’t play right away, but the Bengals now have three weeks to either activate him to their 53-man roster or shut him down for the year.
- Despite not playing in an NFL regular season game since 2013, and not receiving a workout this year, former Ravens running back Ray Rice continues to train in the hopes of getting another shot, according to Luke Broadwater of the Baltimore Sun. Of course, even putting aside the elevator video that continues to haunt him, the longer Rice’s absence from the league lasts, the less likely it becomes that he’ll get another opportunity.
Agent Not Convinced Steve Smith Will Retire
Ravens receiver Steve Smith Sr. said earlier this year that this season would be his last in the NFL, and addressed that decision again last week by saying he’s “still on schedule” to retire at season’s end. However, there are still plenty of skeptics who don’t believe Smith will call it a career, and one of those skeptics is his agent, Derrick Fox, as ESPN’s Jim Trotter details.
“I know this guy better than anybody but his wife,” Fox said. “I’ve told him, ‘I don’t think that you’re really going to retire.’ The guy is just an insane competitor, and I think as long as his body works appropriately he’s really going to have a hard time next August saying, ‘Oh, wow. Guys are going to camp.’ He’s never experienced it in his entire life, and he’s got a lot left in the tank.”
As Fox tells it, Smith said early in his NFL career that he only planned to play for three or four years before retiring to spend time with his family, so he’s long been “committed to the concept” of retirement. However, the agent remains unconvinced that his client is ready to step away from the game quite yet. Asked to handicap the odds of Smith retiring after the 2015 season, Fox called it a 50-50 chance.
Even in his 15th NFL season, Smith does seem to have plenty left in the tank, as Fox suggests. In six games for Baltimore this season, the 36-year-old has grabbed 41 balls for 588 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 98 yards per game — the second-highest mark of his career.
Smith will have one year left on his three-year contract with the Ravens after 2015.
West Notes: Jenkins, 49ers, Chargers
After suggesting earlier in the season that he’d likely play out the final year of his rookie contract without a new extension in place, Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins confirmed as much this week, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com. As Jenkins explains, once the team’s bye week passed without an agreement, he made the decision to shelve contract discussions.
“They knew what was going on,” Jenkins said. “I told them anything after the bye week, I ain’t listening, I don’t want to hear it. I want to focus on football. The bye week is gone, so I just want to play football.”
As Jenkins continues to improve his free agent stock with an impressive season, let’s check out a few more notes from around the NFL’s West divisions….
- Following up on an earlier report about a heated players-only meeting, Kyle McLorg of BayAreaSportsGuy.com identified 49ers tight end Vernon Davis as the player who called out quarterback Colin Kaepernick during that meeting, while offensive tackle Joe Staley stepped up to defend the QB.
- The 49ers have failed Kaepernick more than he has failed the team, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, who points out that other teams have performed well despite getting subpar quarterback play. Barrows also notes that the Niners haven’t made good on the promise they made to Kaepernick when he signed his deal, about using their cap flexibility to lock up key players to extensions.
- The Chargers took a look at a pair of free agent safeties this week, working out former Giants safety Stevie Brown, along with Brandian Ross, per Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (Twitter link).
- Speaking to Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com, NFL executive Eric Grubman confirmed that the league feels the city of San Diego has made some progress on a stadium proposal. Whether or not that progress is enough to save the Chargers remains to be seen — as Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets, the league’s Los Angeles committee will meet on November 11-12 in New York to discuss relocation, and we’re moving closer and closer to possible resolution.
Contract Details For Jason Pierre-Paul
After a lengthy saga that involved a franchise tag, a fireworks accident, and a series of physical exams, Jason Pierre-Paul officially signed a contract this week with the Giants, aiming to return to the team for the second half of the 2015 season.
Pierre-Paul’s franchise tag was initially worth $14.13MM, but after missing seven weeks, the standout defensive end would’ve only been eligible to earn up to about $8.71MM, the prorated portion of that season-long figure. With the Giants reluctant to guarantee that full amount, and Pierre-Paul not wanting to risk being placed on the non-football injury list, the two sides worked out a compromise.
Here are all the details on JPP’s new one-year contract with the Giants:
- Perhaps most importantly, the Giants agreed not to place Pierre-Paul on the NFI list as part of their agreement, meaning the veteran pass rusher will once again be eligible for free agency at season’s end (Twitter links via Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com). If the Giants had placed JPP on NFI, they may have been able to bring him back at the same price as his 2015 franchise tag.
- Pierre-Paul receives $1.5MM in guaranteed base salary, and can earn up to $1.5MM in per-game roster bonuses, according to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports. The Giants have a roster exemption for JPP for the next two weeks, which means he’d only have to play in the club’s final seven games to max out his per-game bonuses — he’ll earn about $214K for each game he spends on the active roster.
- According to Garafolo, Pierre-Paul can earn up to another $5.71MM or so, via playing-time and sack incentives. Rand Getlin of the NFL Network confirms (via Twitter) that the one-year deal is worth a maximum of $8,713,530 — the prorated franchise tag figure for 10 weeks.
- La Canfora provides the specifics on those incentives, which are fairly convoluted. Essentially, if Pierre-Paul plays in at least 80% of the team’s defensive snaps over the final seven games, he’d earn a max of $3.85MM in playing-time incentives (Twitter link). If he records 10 or more sacks, JPP would max out both his sack and playing-time incentives, and earn his full $8.71MM salary (Twitter links). Of course, racking up 10 sacks in seven games is a tall order for even a fully healthy star, so the 26-year-old’s earnings for the season will very likely fall below that $8.71MM figure.