West Rumors: Jenkins, 49ers, St. Louis
Three of the four Rams‘ starting defensive backs are eligible for free agency after the 2015 season, and cornerback Janoris Jenkins is perhaps the most notable of the free-agents-to-be. According to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the team has had ongoing discussions with Jenkins’ agent since the spring, making a contract offer to the cornerback last week during St. Louis’ bye. Still, it sounds like Jenkins may want to test the market this winter.
“I’m not talking about the contract,” Jenkins said. “I ended that last week, when they gave me those numbers. It was something I didn’t want to hear. I ended it just like that. I’ll play it out. I’m gonna bet on myself.”
Let’s check in on a few other items from out of the NFL’s West divisions….
- The 49ers‘ loss to Seattle on Thursday night is the kind of game that “has to send people back to the drawing board,” according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com, who has heard whispers that “something big” could happen in San Francisco. “I don’t know what it’s going to be. I don’t know what they’re talking about, but clearly the 49ers can’t go on this way,” Maiocco said, adding: “There are a lot of very upset people in the 49ers organization.”
- After the 49ers‘ latest loss, it’s becoming clear that the club is in a rebuilding year, writes Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News.
- Several St. Louis aldermen are introducing a bill at a Friday board meeting that would call for a public vote before allowing the city to spend approximately $150MM on a new stadium, says David Hunn of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. According to Hunn, the mayor’s office has cautioned that such a bill could kill plans to build a new stadium for the Rams or another NFL team.
- In his look at the most important additions of the Broncos’ offseason, Cameron Wolfe of the Denver Post identifies safety Darian Stewart as “a big upgrade” over former starter Rahim Moore, and praises defensive coordinator Wade Phillips for turning Denver’s D from good to great.
Vernon Davis Addresses Trade Rumors
With the 49ers struggling this season and Vernon Davis in the final year of his contract, the veteran tight end has been the subject of trade rumors and speculation, with a Thursday report indicating that Davis was drawing interest around the league. While Davis has heard those rumblings, he tells Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com that he’s trying not to think about the possibility of being dealt by the Niners.
“I’ve been a Niner for 10 years,” Davis said. “This is all I know. It’s really not about me being upset. I understand the nature of the business. It’s a business — it is. If anyone was somewhere for 10 years, they’d be highly upset, highly disappointed.”
Davis, who has been in San Francisco since 2006, is coming off perhaps his worst season with the team, setting or matching career-worst marks by totaling just 245 receiving yards and two touchdowns in 2014. The 31-year-old has been slowed by injuries this season, but he had a solid game on Thursday night against Seattle, and is just two years removed from a Pro Bowl season.
Although it’s not hard to imagine a contender wanting to roll the dice on him at the trade deadline, Davis said his agent has told him not to worry about the possibility, adding that it’s “probably just rumors.” Still, if the Niners decide to move him, the former sixth overall pick recognizes that it’s not personal.
“You have to understand, after all of this, it’s a business,” Davis said. “I have no intention of going anywhere. But sometimes things happen and you just have to be prepared for it. I think anyone would be upset.”
This year’s trade deadline falls on November 3, so the 49ers have less than two weeks to make a decision on Davis.
Lions Cut Ishmaa’ily Kitchen
Two weeks after signing him, the Lions have waived defensive tackle Ishmaa’ily Kitchen, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter). No corresponding move was announced immediately, so the club is likely to promote a player from its practice squad on Saturday.
Kitchen, 27, earned 279 defensive snaps for the Browns in 2014, making 27 tackles. After being cut by Cleveland earlier in the year, Kitchen signed with the Lions prior to Week 5, when the team needed to add some depth at defensive tackle due to injuries. He appeared in just 15 defensive snaps for Detroit in his two weeks with the team.
The decision to cut Kitchen suggests that Haloti Ngata should be good to go this weekend. Ngata, who has been sidelined due to a calf injury, returned to practice for the Lions this week, and was a full participant on Thursday.
As for which player might replace Kitchen on the roster, Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (Twitter link) speculates that perhaps tight end Casey Pierce could be elevated from the taxi squad.
North Notes: Ratliff, Schwartz, Bengals
In the wake of the Bears‘ release of defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff, details have trickled out about the circumstances surrounding the veteran’s departure, and they don’t paint Ratliff in a particularly positive light. According to Rich Campbell and Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune, coaches considered Ratliff one of the team’s best defensive lineman, if not the best, but team officials determined that he wasn’t in a condition to work when he arrived at Halas Hall on Wednesday. When the Bears sent Ratliff home from the facility, an argument took place.
Per the Tribune’s sources, Ratliff came back to Halas Hall twice and had an “intense vocal altercation” with GM Ryan Pace before he was sent home again. Lake Forest police were ultimately summoned as a safety measure, and Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets that the club still operated “at a heightened state of security” on Thursday, a day after the incident took place.
Even at age 34, Ratliff can still be effective on the field, but his latest off-field run-in will surely make any team think twice before signing him. Here’s more from out of the NFL’s North divisions:
- When asked if he wants to re-sign with Cleveland, Browns right tackle Mitchell Schwartz said, “That’s kind of out of my control. We’ll see what happens,” as Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal tweets. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (on Twitter) opined that Schwartz is in line for a major payday this offseason.
- Cornerback Al Louis-Jean, who appeared in nine games for Chicago during his rookie season in 2014, is working out for the Browns today, according to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Louis-Jean was waived by the Bears in August.
- Speaking of workouts, Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post passes along word on several players auditioning for the Bengals, tweeting that Cincinnati took a look at safeties Ahmad Dixon and Ryan Murphy, wide receivers Devin Gardner and Deontay Greenberry, linebackers Quayshawn Nealy and Ronald Powell, and center Reese Dismukes.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Bills Re-Sign Jordan Gay
10:05am: The Bills have officially re-signed Gay, waiving safety Josh Bush to clear room on their roster, tweets Rodak.
8:41am: A little over two weeks after cutting him, the Bills will be re-signing kicker Jordan Gay, head coach Rex Ryan told reporters today (Twitter link via Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News). Gay will be returning to handle kickoff duties rather than extra points or field goals, which are still Dan Carpenter‘s domain.
In order to make room for Gay, the Bills will release a player from their roster, rather than placing someone on IR. However, Ryan stressed that the Gay signing doesn’t have anything to do with wide receiver Percy Harvin, who is rumored to be considering retirement (Twitter link via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com).
There were conflicting reports yesterday on whether or not Harvin was seriously considering the possibility of calling it a career. Still, it’s clear that something is going on with the veteran wideout, outside of his hip and knee issues.
General manager Doug Whaley told the media today that he’d address the Harvin situation “as soon as we get more answers on it,” stressing again that the 27-year-old is away from the team for “personal reasons” (Twitter links via Dunne). While that’s not exactly a confirmation that Harvin is contemplating retirement, the Bills aren’t trying to hide the fact that there’s something going on there besides the injuries.
As for Gay, he’ll return to the Bills after being cut in favor of Billy Cundiff earlier in October. In the interim, Gay had a workout for the Buccaneers, but didn’t sign with Tampa Bay.
Bears Cut Jeremiah Ratliff, Sign Ziggy Hood
3:56pm: According to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link), Ratliff was escorted out of Halas Hall on Wednesday, and had an animated exchange with GM Ryan Pace. Pace said in a statement today that the move was “in the best interest” of the team (Twitter link via Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune).
3:49pm: Having already traded two veteran defensive players since the 2015 season got underway, the Bears are making more changes on that side of the ball. According to Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Chicago has released defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff.
Ratliff, 34, was suspended for three games to open the season for violating the league’s policy and program for substances of abuse. However, after being re-added to the roster, he resumed his starting duties for the Bears, playing more than half of the team’s snaps over the last two weeks.
A year ago, Ratliff racked up 37 tackles and 6.5 sacks in just 11 games, grading as the league’s sixth-best defensive tackle – according to Pro Football Focus – despite playing fewer snaps than any other DT in the top 10. However, between injuries and suspensions, he hasn’t played a full season since 2011, and new Bears head coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio may not have viewed him as an ideal fit for the club.
To replace Ratliff on the roster, the Bears have signed defensive tackle Ziggy Hood, the team announced today (via Twitter). Hood, who spent five years in Pittsburgh to begin his NFL career, was a Jaguar last season, appearing in all 16 games and recording 24 tackles to go along with a sack and a fumble recovery. He was removed from Jacksonville’s IR list earlier this week, making him a free agent.
The Bears have now jettisoned Ratliff, Jared Allen, and Jonathan Bostic in recent weeks, and also released Tim Jennings just a couple weeks before the regular season began. All four players started at least half of Chicago’s games in 2014.
South Notes: Jags, Brooks, Saints, Mariota
Through at least the 2020 season, EverBank Field will continue to host seven Jaguars regular season games annually, rather than eight, as we learned earlier today. With Jacksonville having extended its relationship with Wembley Stadium through 2020, with an option for five additional years, the Jags will play at least one home game per year overseas for the foreseeable future.
While that announcement wasn’t a surprise, it’s worth keeping an eye on the Jags’ schedule over the next few years to see if they spend even more time in the United Kingdom. The team is a good candidate to become the first to play two consecutive games in London — likely one as a home team and one as a road team. Additionally, once Tottenham’s new stadium opens in 2018, the Jags would look like a prime candidate to play games there as well, given owner Shad Khan’s fondness for the market.
Here’s more on Khan, the Jaguars, and some other teams from the NFL’s two South divisions:
- While Khan is disappointed with the Jaguars‘ 1-5 record to open the 2015 season, he said today that he still has “a huge amount of confidence” in GM Dave Caldwell and head coach Gus Bradley, writes Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union.
- Texans guard Brandon Brooks, who figures to be one of the more intriguing free agents at his position in 2016, was impressed by Marshal Yanda‘s new contract with the Ravens, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. “Not bad at all,” Brooks said. “He deserves it.” For his part, Brooks could end up seeking a similar deal this winter.
- Drew Brees is 36, and it’s time for the Saints to face reality and think about the future of the position, writes Pat Yasinskas of WalterFootball.com. Although Brees is coming off his best game of the season against Atlanta, Yasinskas rightly notes that there have been some signs that the veteran signal-caller is slowing down. If the Saints finish near the bottom of the league this year, they may have a chance to draft California quarterback Jared Goff, and that’s a pick that Yasinskas endorses.
- Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota didn’t take part in practice today, and head coach Ken Whisenhunt said that tomorrow’s practice will reveal a lot about the QB’s availability for Week 7 (Twitter links via Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com). Reports on the severity of Mariota’s injury have varied, with some suggesting he could be sidelined for multiple weeks, while others have indicated he should play this weekend.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Brandon Lloyd Announces Retirement
Veteran wide receiver Brandon Lloyd has announced his retirement from the NFL, tweets Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com. According to Wagoner, Lloyd’s announcement, which was made via press release, thanked several coaches and players by name.
Lloyd, who was known for his ability to make acrobatic catches, broke into the NFL as a fourth-round pick in 2003, and spent his first three season with the 49ers. The Illinois product bounced around from San Francisco to Washington to Chicago, and then to Denver, where he had his breakout season in 2010. Having never totaled more than 48 receptions or 733 yards in a season prior to ’10, Lloyd smashed those career highs, racking up a league-leading 1,448 receiving yards along with 11 touchdowns on 77 catches.
A few weeks into the 2011 season, Lloyd was traded by the Broncos to the Rams. At season’s end, he signed a contract with the Patriots, and enjoyed one last productive season in New England in 2012, picking up 911 yards and four touchdowns on 74 receptions.
Most recently, Lloyd played for the 2014 Niners, making him the latest member of that team to announce his retirement, following in the footsteps of Patrick Willis, Justin Smith, and Chris Borland. Lloyd, who turned 34 over the summer, had just 14 catches last season in San Francisco, and had been a free agent since his one-year pact expired.
For his career, Lloyd fell just short of 400 receptions and 6,000 receiving yards, accumulating 399 and 5,989 respectively.
AFC Notes: Harvin, Brady, Bengals, Moore
Earlier today, we heard conflicting reports on whether Bills wide receiver Percy Harvin, who is battling hip and knee issues, is truly considering retirement. As Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports writes, the fact that Rex Ryan and the Bills have made sure to stress that Percy Harvin’s absence in London this week is “personal” and not injury-related suggests that there’s something to the retirement rumors.
If Harvin were to retire during the season, he’d risk forfeiting several million dollars in salary and signing-bonus money, as the Bills would be within their rights to try to recoup that money. For his part, the veteran wideout would probably rather avoid a contract stand-off, which would help explain why he’d want to continue his career, even if health problems had him contemplating the idea of retirement.
As we wait to see how the Harvin situation plays out in Buffalo, let’s round up a few more AFC notes….
- Tom Brady said this week that his goal is to play “maybe 10 more years,” according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Pressed on whether or not he was serious, the Patriots quarterback added: “That’s what my goals are, that’s what I’m hoping.” Of course, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk points out, it’s not the first time Brady has repeated that “10 more years” mantra, and if he really wants to play that long, there’s no guarantee he’ll do so in New England.
- Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter links) passes along news on a pair of Bengals workouts, reporting that quarterback Bryn Renner and linebacker Alex Singleton got a look from Cincinnati today.
- After spending the first four years of his NFL career with the Broncos, safety Rahim Moore signed with the Texans this offseason. Those teams’ respective places in the standings indicate that Moore may regret his decision, but that’s not the case, as Wilson writes for the Chronicle. “I think this is a great decision,” Moore said. “Some people can make the wrong decision in free agency and have regrets. I don’t have any”
NFL, Jaguars Extend Wembley Stadium Deal
A little over two weeks after the NFL announced that it’s extending its international series through 2025, the league confirmed today that games will be played at London’s Wembley Stadium through at least the 2020 season. As part of the agreement, the Jaguars will continue to play at least one game a year at Wembley through 2020.
According to the NFL’s announcement, the league will also have the option to extend the current deal another five years, through 2025. The Wembley agreement will eventually overlap with the NFL’s deal with a new Tottenham stadium, which is on track to host two games per year beginning in 2018. Once that stadium opens, the league will play at least two games per season at Wembley, and another two on the Tottenham field.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan, who hinted earlier this week that an announcement of this nature was coming on Thursday, would have liked to extend his team’s deal for London games beyond 2020, but said five years “is what the NFL wanted” for now, according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (Twitter link).
“Our four-year London initiative has been every bit as rewarding as we anticipated, certainly due in large part to the league’s commitment to the UK and the world class experience that Wembley Stadium has provided the Jaguars, our fans and our partners,” Khan said in a statement. “Our interest in extending our agreement to play a home game each season in London is nothing new. So, we’re very happy to make it official today. This is great news for the Jaguars and the stability of the team in Jacksonville, which has come to embrace London as our home away from home.”
When the NFL first announced the extension of its international series earlier this month, the league indicated that it would explore playing games beyond the UK, perhaps as early as next season. Per O’Halloran (via Twitter), the league is currently focused as Mexico and Germany as the top two countries that could host games within the next few years.