NFC South Notes: Panthers, Falcons, Hardy
Earlier today, we checked in on a few updates out of the NFC East. Now, let’s turn our attention to one of the conference’s other divisions and round up the latest news and rumors from around the NFC South….
- With Mike Tolbert on IR-DTR, DeAngelo Williams unlikely to return in Week 5, and Jonathan Stewart also banged up, the Panthers intend to take a look at veteran free agents this week, as Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer details. “We’re going to have to look at some guys from the outside. And we’ll see,” said head coach Ron Rivera. “Without Jonathan available last week and potentially not available this week we need to have an insurance policy just in case so we’re going to have to take a look.”
- Falcons offensive lineman Joe Hawley is undergoing an MRI today to determine the severity of his knee injury, but the team doesn’t feel as if it will be a season-ender, according to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Still, with Hawley expected to be sidelined for at least the near future, Atlanta will work out free agent lineman Uche Nwaneri this week, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com.
- According to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link), Greg Hardy is being advised to try to move his court date back and sit out the entire 2014 season rather than resolving his case in November and potentially returning for the home stretch. Cole explains that underperforming or risking injury in the final few weeks could diminish Hardy’s value significantly heading into free agency, though considering he’s likely facing a lengthy suspension once his domestic violence case is resolved, the Panthers defensive end figures to see his stock sliding either way.
- Buccaneers rookie wideout Mike Evans is expected to be sidelined for two or three weeks with a groin strain, tweets Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports.
- Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap wonders (via Twitter) if the Saints will consider firing or demoting defensive coordinator Rob Ryan after how his unit has performed in September.
Jets Sign T.J. Graham, Cut Jalen Saunders
Yet another one of the Jets’ 12 draftees from this past May is no longer on the roster. New York has waived fourth-round wideout Jalen Saunders, replacing him on the roster with veteran receiver T.J. Graham, the team announced today (Twitter link).
Saunders, who turns 22 tomorrow, had been returning punts for the club, but after muffing catches in the Jets’ Week 2 and Week 3 games, he was taken off return duties. In his brief stint with the team, Saunders saw just six offensive snaps, and didn’t record a single catch.
As for Graham, the ex-Bill logged 54 total receptions during the 2012 and 2013 seasons, but after being shopped in trade talks this summer, was waived during preseason cutdowns. Although the 25-year-old was claimed off waivers by the Titans, he wasn’t used in Tennessee’s offense, and was cut by the club last week. The Jets were the only club Graham was reported to have auditioned for during his brief stint as a free agent.
Of the 12 players the Jets drafted in 2014, only five are on the team’s current active roster. Saunders becomes the fifth draftee cut by the team, while two others are on season-ending injured reserve.
NFC East Notes: Eagles, Giants, Redskins
LeSean McCoy is under contract with the Eagles through 2017, but 2014 acts as something of a contract year for the veteran running back, since his salary balloons next season to $9.75MM, significantly more than he’s making in any other year of his deal. With his cap number on the rise and running back contracts around the league on the decline, McCoy is off to a slow start this season, writes Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap. While the Eagles’ banged-up offensive line isn’t doing Shady any favors, he “doesn’t look like the same player” he was in 2013, according to Fitzgerald, who suggests that a down year for McCoy would force the Eagles to make a difficult decision for 2015.
Here’s more from around the NFC East:
- The roster exemption the Giants received for cornerback Jayron Hosley, who is back from suspension, is for a week, so the team won’t have to make a move to get down to 53 players until next Monday, according to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News (via Twitter).
- Appearing on WIP in Philadelphia, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly confirmed the club has not brought free agent lineman Richie Incognito for a workout, says Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link), who adds that it sounds like there’s no interest there.
- The Redskins have multiple openings on both their 53-man roster and their practice squad, but those spots likely won’t stay open for long. Mike Jones of the Washington Post tweets that the team is having a large group of players in to audition today.
- Earlier this morning, we rounded up a few Cowboys items.
Latest On Roger Goodell
Within this week’s installment of his Monday Morning Quarterback column, Peter King notes that he spoke to eight high-ranking team officials – either an owner or someone with knowledge of the owner’s thinking – about the current status of commissioner Roger Goodell. As King writes, a number of points were conveyed frequently in those discussions, so we’ll round up the highlights right here:
- While there is currently no movement to remove Goodell from his position, owners are curious to see the results of Robert Mueller‘s investigation into how the league handled the Ray Rice situation. If Goodell lied about the Rice video, he’ll be in “serious trouble,” and even if Mueller finds that the commissioner wasn’t as an top of the investigation as he should have been, he may be in hot water as well.
- Most owners are confident that Mueller’s report will be “far-reaching and legitimate,” though one owner acknowledged that it was probably a mistake to appoint an investigator whose firm has ties to the NFL.
- One owner can envision a scenario in which Goodell survives this season, but may be in trouble in the long-term if the NFL brand has taken a significant hit.
- Many owners that spoke to King want Goodell to give up some authority in discipline cases — they’d rather see him focusing more on league matters and growing and improving the game.
- Owners also expressed concern that Goodell occasionally plays favorites, and that he spends too much time “going down a rabbit hole of unending controversy on an issue the league should have had buttoned up years ago,” as King writes.
Cowboys Notes: Murray, Claiborne, Brent
With 534 yards on the ground through the first four weeks of the season, Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray is racking up an average of more than 133 yards per game, giving him a huge early-season lead for the rushing title — Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell is second in the NFL with 378 rushing yards. Predictably, Murray earns a spot atop Jason Fitzgerald’s list of players whose Week 4 performances improved their values in advance of approaching contract negotiations. As Fitzgerald writes in his piece at Over The Cap, a big year for Murray could allow him to land a deal that averages $7-8MM annually, which would help stabilize the declining running back market a little.
Here’s more on the 3-1 Cowboys:
- After going through a little drama last week relating to his spot on the Cowboys’ depth chart, defensive back Morris Claiborne saw his season take a more unfortunate turn on Sunday night. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (via Twitter), the team fears that Claiborne has a torn ACL and will be lost for the season. An MRI today is expected to confirm that diagnosis.
- Linebacker Bruce Carter will also undergo an MRI today after injuring his quad last night, but his injury isn’t viewed as serious, says Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I’ve got good strength and everything, so we’ll see,” Carter said. “It’s sore, but I’m moving around good.”
- While Josh Brent will still miss the first 10 games of this season due to his suspension, the terms of that ban have been modified to allow him to return to the team’s facilities this week, Davison writes in a separate Star-Telegram piece. Brent still won’t be able to practice yet, but he’ll be permitted to work out and attend team meetings.
NFC Notes: Panthers, Lions, Saints, Giants
As we wait to see whether the Eagles can take sole possession of the top spot in the NFC with a win tomorrow in San Francisco, let’s round up some notes from around the conference….
- Offensive lineman Garry Williams landed on injured reserve for the third time in four years today, and while it’s an unfortunate break for both Williams and the Panthers, the team protected itself against injury in its one-year extension for the veteran, according to Brian McIntyre (Twitter links). Williams’ base salary drops from $650K to $373K on IR, and he’ll miss out on nearly $100K in per-game roster bonuses.
- While Kyle Meinke of MLive.com initially scoffed at the notion that injured linebacker Stephen Tulloch may have placed his last game with the Lions, he notes that the team could save more than $3MM by cutting the linebacker in the offseason, which is money that could be put toward re-signing Ndamukong Suh or another player. Meinke isn’t advocating for Tulloch’s release and doesn’t necessarily view it as likely, but the combination of the 29-year-old’s ACL injury and cap figures make it a possibility.
- Mike Triplett’s latest Saints mailbag at ESPN.com deals primarily with questions about Drew Brees‘ potential longevity as he enters his late-30s, and whether it’s realistic to expect New Orleans to be a Super Bowl contender as long as Brees has one of the league’s largest contracts.
- Meanwhile, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com fields Giants-related questions in his Saturday mailbag, including one on how the team might balance the workload for free agent signee Rashad Jennings and rookie Andre Williams going forward.
Poll: Should NFL Expand To London?
As we wrote yesterday, the NFL’s international chief, Mark Waller, still believes the league is on track for potential expansion to Europe by around 2022. With the NFL ramping up to three games played at Wembley Stadium in London this season, Waller and company are beginning to experiment in different ways with those overseas contests, as he explained to Albert Breer of the NFL Network.
“I’m less focused on going from three (games) to four, four to five, five to six,” Waller said. “Can we do back-to-back games? Will the surface hold up? Can we start sending teams there without the bye attached? It’s not about the number anymore. … We’re at a place now where if we continue to do the job with the fans, the fan base will grow, and we’ll be able to have a team (in London). The questions now are logistical.”
While the NFL’s global marketing plan is ambitious, it’s worth considering whether having a franchise in London is the logical next step for the league. In my view, getting a team back in Los Angeles should be the NFL’s top priority, but that doesn’t necessarily preclude the possibility of expanding to London. Reports continue to suggest that when a combination of the right team, the right owner, and the right stadium come together, NFL football will return to L.A., and the league’s goal of installing a franchise overseas can be viewed as an entirely separate issue.
Still, with no NFL franchise seemingly on the verge of relocation at the moment, one has to wonder if the league is willing to move multiple teams within the next few years to get teams in L.A. and London. At 32 franchises, the NFL already features more teams than any of the other major North American sports leagues, so further expansion seems somewhat dubious.
That’s one possible roadblock for a London team, and Waller himself names a few more — it’s not clear yet whether Wembley Stadium will be capable of hosting eight games per season, or whether European fans more accustomed to following another form of football would continue to turn up and support a franchise full-time. Additionally, traveling from one coast of America to the other is already viewed as a significant handicap for West Coast clubs. The idea of having eight teams per year traveling overseas for games likely won’t be an easy sell.
What do you think? Does it make sense for the NFL to attempt to get a franchise in place in London within the next decade or so, or is that an overly ambitious plan for the league?
12 Teams Have Yet To Use IR-DTR Slot
As I explained when I broke down the concept of the NFL’s injured reserve list on Friday, each of the league’s 32 clubs is allowed to designate one IR player to return each season. These players are eligible to begin practicing six weeks after they land on injured reserve and can return to game action eight weeks after their IR designation.
Since teams can only use the designation once per season, some strategy can be required in deciding which player to put on IR-DTR. If a rarely-used player at the back of the roster suffers an injury with a projected recovery time of six to eight weeks, a team could elect to place him on IR-DTR, or simply cut him with an injury settlement and save the single designation in case a more notable player on the roster sustains an injury with a similar timetable.
Of course, while some teams have multiple candidates for the IR-DTR slot, and may be forced to keep an injured player or two on their active rosters, other clubs have yet to have even one player become a strong candidate for that designation to return. After the Patriots placed Sealver Siliga on IR with the designation to return today, there are just a dozen teams who have yet to take advantage of that spot on the reserve list.
With 13 weeks still remaining in the regular season after this weekend’s games, that designation to return could still come in handy for players who suffer injuries but might be healthy in time to contribute in December and January. So it’s worth keeping an eye on these 12 clubs, who have yet to use their IR-DTR spots, to see if they come in handy in the near future.
The following teams have yet to place a player on injured reserve with the designation to return:
- Arizona Cardinals
- Atlanta Falcons
- Baltimore Ravens
- Buffalo Bills
- Cleveland Browns
- Denver Broncos
- Houston Texans
- Miami Dolphins
- Minnesota Vikings
- New York Jets
- Oakland Raiders
- Tennessee Titans
To see how the NFL’s other 20 teams have used their IR-DTR spots, be sure to check out our complete list.
Minor Moves: Friday
We’ll track Friday’s minor transactions from around the NFL right here, as teams gear up for Week 4’s games. The latest moves will be added to the top of the list throughout the day….
- The Patriots have replaced offensive lineman Chris Martin on their practice squad, re-adding defensive tackle Ben Bass to take his place, as Phil Perry of CSNNE.com writes.
- Giants cornerback Jayron Hosley has been reinstated from suspension following the Giants’ fourth game of the season last night, tweets Howard Balzer of The SportsXchange. The team will receive a roster exemption for Hosley, meaning New York will have until Monday to decide whether to cut the cornerback or someone else in order to get down to 53 players.
Earlier updates:
- According to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter), the Ravens have cut defensive tackle A.J. Pataiali’i from their practice squad. With Fitzgerald Toussaint and Deonte Thompson returning to the squad after being waived from the active roster, the team is now carrying the maximum 10 players.
- Safety Chris Prosinski, who was recently placed on injured reserve by the Jaguars, has been removed from the team’s IR list with an injury settlement, tweets John Oesher of Jaguars.com. I touched on how injury settlements work earlier today in my PFR Glossary post explaining the injured reserve list.
NFL/NFLPA Notes: Rice, DUIs, Policies
The last few days haven’t been quite as explosive in terms of scandals and other major NFL stories as recent weeks have been, but the league is still dealing with the fallout of multiple embarrassing situations, and working on finalizing and creating various policies. Here are a few Friday updates on issues relating to the league and the player’s union:
- Despite new details in an Associated Press report alleging that a law enforcement official sent the Ray Rice elevator video to league security chief Jeffrey Miller back in April, the league indicated today that its office “has found absolutely no evidence” suggesting it received the video or that an alleged phone call confirming its receipt took place. Nancy Armour of USA Today Sports has the details.
- Player agents are being informed that their clients have until November 1 to resolve outstanding cases relating to DUI charges, in order to avoid the mandatory two-game suspension dictated by the league’s new drug policy, says Tom Pelissero of USA Today (via Twitter). Pelissero clarifies (via Twitter) that the deadline only applies to players who face chargers on alcohol-related impairment, so it wouldn’t apply to someone like Le’Veon Bell.
- In a series of several tweets, Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report passes along some highlights from a memo sent by Roger Goodell and the NFL to team owners today. The memo provides progress updates on the league’s efforts to improve its personal conduct policy and handling of domestic violence situations.