North Notes: Peterson, Cobb, Hoyer
ESPN.com has published the full five-page letter sent by the NFL Players Association to commissioner Roger Goodell explaining the reasoning behind appealing Adrian Peterson‘s suspension, and the document makes for an interesting read.
In addition to the previously-reported points raised by the NFLPA, the union also points out that Peterson’s violation of the personal conduct policy happened back in May, well before the league instituted its new policies related to domestic violence. NFLPA attorney Tom DePaso also points out that the Vikings running back’s suspension, which totals 15 games when taking into account his time on the exempt list, is without precedent for such an incident, and “grossly disproportionate” when compared to past penalties.
Here’s more on that letter to Goodell, as well as a couple more notes from around the NFL’s two North divisions:
- The union’s letter to the commissioner suggests that multiple league officials – including Troy Vincent – told Peterson and his agent that his stint on the exempt list would be considered time served, and takes issue with the league’s lack of transparency in failing to explain the role of outside experts during the disciplinary hearing that was scheduled for Peterson last week. The appeal also calls, in strong terms, for a neutral arbitrator during the appeal process. “There is simply no way for you to impartially arbitrate Mr. Peterson’ s appeal,” DePaso writes, addressing Goodell.
- 2015’s free agent class of wide receivers projects to include several intriguing names, but none will have Randall Cobb‘s combination of youth (he turned 24 in August) and on-field production (779 receiving yards, 10 TDs so far this season). While Cobb says he wants to remain “a Packer for life,” he’ll be a hot commodity if he reaches the open market, writes Don Banks of SI.com.
- Greg A. Bedard of TheMMQB.com tackles the issue of what Brian Hoyer‘s next contract will look like, writing that there’s a significant range of possibilities for the Browns quarterback depending on how he finishes the 2014 season.
Workout Notes: Thursday
The Panthers, still somehow right in the thick of things in the NFC South race, took advantage of their bye week to bring in a number of players for auditions yesterday. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that Carolina worked out the following players: Austin Pettis (WR), Uzoma Nwachukwu (WR), Zach Bauman (RB), Toben Opurum (RB), Brad Sorensen (QB), M.D. Jennings (DB), Kimario McFadden (DB), Anthony Walters (DB), and Lou Young (DB). Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun adds one more name to the list, tweeting that wide receiver Michael Preston also visited the team.
Wilson has details on several more tryouts for free agent players this week, so let’s round up his updates (all links go to Twitter):
- The Seahawks have their eye on potential additions at linebacker, having worked out free agents Denicos Allen, Uani Unga, and Chris Carter.
- We heard previously that Washington brought in former Packers first-round pick Derek Sherrod, but he wasn’t the only offensive lineman to try out for the team this week. The club also auditioned linemen Michael Bamiro, Edawn Coughman, and Jordan McCray.
- The Texans brought in three defensive linemen for auditions, taking a look at Joe Kruger, Kona Schwenke, and Ben Bass.
- In addition to defensive end Scott Solomon, who ultimately signed to the team’s practice squad, a handful of players tried out for the Browns this week, including tight end Kevin Greene, linebacker Garrett McIntyre, tight end James Oboh, and linebacker Jamaal Westerman.
- A pair of defensive linemen, Rufus Johnson and Leon Mackey, worked out for the Jets.
Patriots Sign LeGarrette Blount
10:35am: The Pats have officially confirmed the signing of Blount.
9:19am: Blount’s new deal can be worth up to $2.35MM, according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald, who tweets that the running back can earn up to $1.6MM with incentives in 2015.
8:04am: The Pats will waive defensive lineman Casey Walker to accommodate the signing of Blount, tweets Mike Reiss of ESPN.com.
7:52am: Former Steelers running back LeGarrette Blount wasn’t claimed off waivers yesterday like Ben Tate, but it didn’t take Blount long to find a new home. Josina Anderson of ESPN.com first reported this morning (via Twitter) that Blount was visiting the Patriots’ facility and was expected to sign with the team, and Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter) has since confirmed that the back is signing a two-year deal with New England.
Per Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links), Blount’s new two-year contract with the Patriots will be a minimum-salary pact, but one laden with incentives. The 27-year-old, who rumbled for 166 yards and four touchdowns in a playoff game against the Colts last year for the Pats, will officially sign his deal this morning, a source tells Wilson.
Blount signed with the Steelers in March and entered the 2014 season expecting to share the workload in Pittsburgh with Le’Veon Bell. However, Bell has emerged as one of the top backs in the NFL this year and relegated Blount to backup duty — the former Buccaneer and Patriot carried the ball just 65 times for 266 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and on Monday night left the field early during Pittsburgh’s game against the Titans, leading to his release.
The timing of the signing is interesting for the Patriots, who saw unheralded running back Jonas Gray run for more than 200 yards on Sunday night against Indianapolis. The move isn’t necessarily an indictment of Gray, who should still see plenty of action this season — rather, it reflects, the Patriots’ desire for flexibility, considering the team’s offensive game plan changes significantly from game to game. In Gray, Blount, and Shane Vereen, among others, the Pats now have several backs with different running styles.
It’s not clear yet if any of the Pats’ current running backs will be cut in the corresponding move when Blount’s signing becomes official, but if the club keeps all its backs on the roster, it will have Brandon Bolden and James White to go along with Gray, Blount, and Vereen, with Stevan Ridley on injured reserve. As Ben Volin of the Boston Globe points out (via Twitter), Ridley, Vereen, and Bolden are all eligible for free agency at season’s end, and with Blount signing a multiyear deal, none of those potential free agents is guaranteed to still be a Pat next season.
Colts, Cards Put In Claims For Ben Tate
A day after the Browns released Ben Tate, the Vikings were awarded the running back off waivers on Wednesday, claiming him as a de facto replacement for Adrian Peterson once it became apparent that Peterson almost certainly wouldn’t return to the field this season. However, Minnesota wasn’t the only club to submit a claim for Tate. According to Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the Colts and Cardinals also placed claims for the former Texan.
The fact that the Colts also tried to grab Tate isn’t a surprise — the team is in need of help in the backfield after seeing Ahmad Bradshaw go down for the season on Sunday with a fractured ankle. In Bradshaw’s absence, Trent Richardson and Dan Herron are the lead backs in Indianapolis, and neither player has shown he’s capable of carrying a significant load this season.
As for the Cards, their claim is a little more surprising. A pair of beat writers reported earlier in the week that Tate was an unlikely target for Arizona, even if he made it through waivers and became a free agent. The team is currently carrying five running backs too, so depth doesn’t appear to be an issue, though Andre Ellington and Robert Hughes have both been limited in practice this week.
Ultimately, the Vikings won out on Tate due to their subpar record this season. Waiver priority is determined by reverse order of record, so the 4-6 Vikes were ahead of the 6-4 Colts in line. And both teams were well ahead of the 9-1 Cards, who could only claim a player off waivers if each of the other 31 clubs passed.
NFC West Notes: 49ers, Britt, Lynch
Before landing in Washington, DeSean Jackson seriously contemplated the idea of joining the 49ers in free agency, the veteran wideout told reporters today, including Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News.
“I had some talks with them, the general manager, coach [Jim] Harbaugh, things like that,” Jackson said during a conference call. “It was a close call. Almost made a trip to come out there. But Washington did what did to keep me here and did everything right. Coach Harbaugh and I played against each other, when he was at Stanford and I was at Cal. I respect him. It was a close call but I came here.”
As we contemplate what the Niners’ offense might’ve looked like with Jackson in the fold, let’s round up a few more items from out of the NFC West….
- If there’s tension in San Francisco between Harbaugh and the 49ers‘ front office, it doesn’t affect the players on the roster, according to running back Frank Gore. Appearing on the Jim Rome Show, Gore said that he and his teammates “don’t even think about it.”
- At this point, there haven’t been any known communications or negotiations between the Rams and Kenny Britt‘s agent, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. However, the wideout, whose contract expires at season’s end, would like to stick with the Rams if he can. “Hopefully I can stay here after this season and be in this locker room,” Britt said. “It’s hard to put a team together like this in the locker room, with this chemistry.”
- As a result of his decision not to speak to reporters after Sunday’s loss against the Chiefs, Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch has been fined $100K by the league, as Ed Werder of ESPN.com details. The league will collect $50K for this incident, as well as a $50K fine for a previous violation, which had been held in abeyance in anticipation of Lynch’s future cooperation.
Saints Cut Brian Leonard, Sign Jalen Saunders
Having completed a series of roster moves yesterday, the Saints once again tweaked their 53-man squad today, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the club has signed wide receiver Jalen Saunders from off the Seahawks’ practice squad, cutting running back Brian Leonard to create space for Saunders.
A Jets fourth-round draft pick back in May, Saunders was cut earlier this season after muffing a pair of punts, and has since spent time on the Cardinals’ and Seahawks’ practice squads. While the rookie wideout certainly won’t be called upon to take over Brandin Cooks‘ role or replicate his production in New Orleans, the Saints’ decision to sign him appears related to having to put their own rookie receiver on IR yesterday due to a season-ending thumb injury.
As for Leonard, he had signed with the Saints a week ago to provide backfield depth. The fact that the team is comfortable releasing him a day after cutting fellow running back Edwin Baker suggests that perhaps Pierre Thomas and/or Khiry Robinson will return to action this weekend.
LeGarrette Blount Clears Waivers
While Ben Tate was snatched off waivers today by the Vikings, fellow discarded running back LeGarrette Blount passed through the waiver system unclaimed, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). That means Blount is now a free agent, able to sign with any NFL team.
Blount, 27, signed with the Steelers in March and entered the 2014 season expecting to share the workload in Pittsburgh with Le’Veon Bell. However, Bell has emerged as one of the top backs in the NFL this year and relegated Blount to backup duty — the former Buccaneer and Patriot carried the ball just 65 times for 266 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and on Monday night left the field early during Pittsburgh’s game against the Titans, leading to his release.
I asked PFR readers this morning whether Tate or Blount was the more attractive option available among running backs who were waived yesterday, and only 16% opted for Blount, with the majority choosing Tate or suggesting that neither player was worth picking up. It seems NFL teams agreed with that response — now we’ll have to wait and see whether Blount draws any interest in free agency.
Another notable veteran cut yesterday, former Panthers wideout Jason Avant, also went unclaimed on waivers, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).
Vikings Claim Ben Tate Off Waivers
4:06pm: The Vikings have officially confirmed their claim of Tate, announcing that they’ve waived tight end MarQueis Gray to accommodate the move (Twitter link).
3:10pm: A day after receiving word that starting running back Adrian Peterson has been suspended the rest of the 2014 season, the Vikings have added another back to their roster, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that Minnesota has claimed Ben Tate off waivers from the Browns.
Tate, 26, signed with the Browns in the offseason in the hopes of taking over as the team’s No. 1 back, but was surpassed on the depth chart by rookie Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West. In eight games for Cleveland this season, Tate carried the ball for just 333 yards on 106 attempts, a 3.1 yards per carry average. After griping publicly about his lack of playing time and losing nine yards on two carries on Sunday, Tate was cut by the Browns on Tuesday.
Without Peterson for the majority of the season, the Vikings have relied primarily on Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata as their ball-carriers, but both players missed practice today with injuries, as Ben Goessling of ESPN.com notes (via Twitter). Given the banged-up state of their backfield, and the fact that Peterson almost certainly won’t see the field this season, it makes sense that the Vikings could use some depth at the running back position.
There had been speculation that the Colts, who saw Ahmad Bradshaw go down with a season-ending ankle injury on Sunday night, may submit a claim for Tate, but Indianapolis would’ve been behind Minnesota in waiver priority — the order is determined by record, with the league’s worst teams getting the first crack at players who have been released.
By claiming Tate rather than signing him as a free agent, the Vikings will assume the contract that the ex-Texan signed with the Browns back in March. That means that if Tate’s stint in Minnesota during the final six weeks of this season is a success, the team would have the option of keeping him on the roster next season for a base salary of $2.2MM.
New York Notes: Manning, Coughlin, Jets
As Paul Schwartz of the New York Post tweets, Giants quarterback Eli Manning said today that he wants to retire as a Giant, and it sounds as if the team has interest in extending the relationship as well. Giants owner John Mara believes Manning is still in his prime and “has a lot of good years left,” as he told Newsday’s Tom Rock last week. Even though Mara made his comments before Manning’s disastrous five-interception showing on Sunday, that one game is unlikely to significant alter the franchise’s perception of Eli as its quarterback of the future.
Here’s more on the NFL’s two New York teams:
- Speaking of Manning, he was asked today about his former teammate Tiki Barber, who suggested earlier this week that the Giants should fire head coach Tom Coughlin. “It’s good to hear from old Tiki,” Manning quipped, according to Art Stapleton of the Bergen Record (Twitter links). Asked how it feels to hear a former player call for a coach to be fired, Manning replied, “I think it depends on your opinion of that player,” hinting that the Giants locker room probably isn’t taking Barber too seriously.
- Much has been made of the potential departures of head coach Rex Ryan and GM John Idzik if the Jets’ season continues to head south, but Seth Walden of the New York Daily News points out that those aren’t the only notable names who could leave the team in the offseason. Walder identifies Percy Harvin, Geno Smith, Michael Vick, and coordinators Dennis Thurman and Marty Mornhinweg as others whose futures in New York are uncertain.
- While the firing of Ryan at season’s end has seemed inevitable over the last few weeks, Brian Costello of the New York Post outlines a scenario in which it makes sense for the Jets to keep their head coach for at least one more year.
Adrian Peterson Links: Wednesday
Tuesday was an eventful day in the Adrian Peterson saga, as the NFL ruled in the morning that the Vikings running back would be suspended for at least the rest of the season and wouldn’t be considered for possible reinstatement until April 15, 2015. In the afternoon, the league also announced that arbitrator Shyam Das had declined the NFLPA’s appeal to remove Peterson from the commissioner’s exempt list. So unless Peterson’s appeal of the suspension is successful, we won’t be seeing the former All-Pro until at least 2015.
Here’s the latest on the situation:
- After Peterson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, appeared on ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike to criticize the league’s handling of the case, NFL executive VP Jeff Pash responded by defending the league’s decision (link via ESPN.com). “We’re not trying to end his career, we want to extend his career,” Pash said. “We want to have a great player on the field with the confidence that he won’t face these kind of issues again.”
- When the NFLPA issued a statement yesterday announcing that it intended to appeal Peterson’s suspension, the statement mentioned that Peterson had been told by an NFL executive his stint on the exempt list would be considered “time served.” Troy Vincent was the league exec in question, and while he acknowledged telling Peterson that his time on the exempt list would be taken into account, that came with a caveat, as he tells Tom Pelissero of USA Today. “But Adrian, you’ve got to come talk,” Vincent recalls telling the running back. “You, your team, your counselors, whoever. Just come and tell us where you are.” Peterson and his representatives failed to appear at the disciplinary hearing that took place last week.
- While the NFL’s statement on Tuesday indicated that Peterson is being suspended for the rest of the season without pay, he’ll remain on the exempt list and continue to be paid during the appeal process. As Darren Heitner of Forbes.com points out, that process figures to take some time — even though the appeal hearing will reportedly be “scheduled promptly,” the word “prompt” is subjective, and the appeal may not be resolved for a few weeks.
- The Vikings are publicly on board with the NFL’s suspension of Peterson, but are “privately fuming” about the league’s decision, according to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post.