Josh Gordon Doesn’t Intend To Sue NFL?
10:31pm: Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk disputes that Gordon has ruled out legal action against the NFL, citing a league source who says that Gordon “has not abandoned plans to sue.” Rather, Gordon will wait for the ongoing drug policy battle between the league and the union to play out in the hopes that a deal reducing or vacating his suspension will be struck.
6:46pm: While it seems unlikely, reports this week have suggested that there’s a chance a new agreement on drug testing between the NFL and NFLPA could overturn some suspensions currently being served by players who wouldn’t have been disciplined under the new policy. We’ll have to wait to see how that story develops, but in the meantime, we know one thing: Josh Gordon has no plans to sue the NFL after his one-year suspension was upheld, writes Elizabeth Merrill of ESPN.com.
“The whole being in limbo thing, I’m over it,” Gordon said. “I’m not waiting on the edge of my seat anymore.”
Gordon also tells Merrill that he checked himself into a rehab clinic in Malibu back in July, despite the fact that he doesn’t consider himself an addict. He had to cut the program short to report to training camp and prepare for his appeal, but he spent two weeks at the facility, writes Merrill. The Browns wideout also said he doesn’t think he has smoked marijuana since before he entered the NFL, suggesting that his failed test was a result of second-hand smoke.
So why did Gordon check himself into rehab if he doesn’t believe he’s an addict and claims not to have smoked marijuana anytime recently? “Just to see,” he said. “To seek out some help on decision making. Not drug use or drug abuse, but decision making. Life skills. How to be your own person and stuff like that.”
Having accepted his fate for the coming season, Gordon has found non-NFL employment in the interim. As we heard yesterday, 2013’s leading receiver has accepted a position with the Sarchione Auto Group in Northeast Ohio, where he’ll act as both an on-floor salesman and as head of the group’s local outreach projects.
“I plan to spend it staying busy, that’s for sure,” Gordon said. “Staying positive and surrounding myself with positive, good people who are only here to support me. Nothing to tear me down negatively. Just carry on about life. There’s definitely life outside of football.”
11 PS Players Earning More Than The Minimum
Players on NFL practice squads are eligible to receive a minimum salary of $6,300 per week, which works out to a 17-week salary of about $107K if a player remains on his team’s practice squad for the entire season. In most cases, teams don’t pay more than the minimum to fill those practice squad spots, since clubs have much more leverage than the players vying for those 320 total openings.
In some cases though, if a team really likes a player, or if he’s drawing interest from several teams for their practice squads, a club will increase that weekly rate. So far this year, with all 32 teams having filled up their 10-man squads, at least 11 players are known to be receiving salaries worth more than the minimum. NFL writer Brian McIntyre rounded up all those players and their salaries for us in a series of tweets, so let’s check out the full list, sorted by weekly salary:
- Brandon Magee, LB (Buccaneers): $29,117 (link)
- Josh Bynes, LB (Ravens): $15,000 (link)
- Rodney Austin, G (Lions): $11,765 (link)
- Zac Dysert, QB (Broncos): $10,000 (link)
- Charles Johnson, WR (Browns): $10,000 (link)
- John Simon, OLB (Ravens): $10,000 (link)
- Ahmad Dixon, S (Vikings): $9,300 (link)
- Brandon Dixon, CB (Buccaneers): $7,500 (link)
- Solomon Patton, WR (Buccaneers): $7,500 (link)
- Jamell Fleming, CB (Ravens): $6,500 (link)
- Ryan Jensen, C (Ravens): $6,500 (link)
Magee’s practice-squad salary is the most notable on this list — his weekly figure adds up to just below $495K for the full season, which is the minimum salary for a second-year player on an active roster. In other words, if he spends the entire season on the practice squad, Magee could still earn more money than some players on active rosters, which is a sign of how much the Bucs want to keep him around.
AFC Notes: Texans, Broncos, Jags, Spiller
With Ryan Mallett no longer in the Patriots‘ plans, the Texans were able to acquire Tom Brady‘s former backup last weekend on the cheap, parting ways with just a sixth- or seventh-round pick, depending on how much playing time Mallett sees in Houston. According to Lance Zierlein of Sports Talk 790 in Houston though, Mallett wasn’t the only signal-caller the Texans explored trading for. Zierlein tweets that Houston also targeted Matt Barkley of the Eagles before landing Mallett.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- The Broncos‘ contract talks with receiver Demaryius Thomas and tight end Julius Thomas aren’t dead but they’re not active either, writes Mike Klis of The Denver Post. Demaryius Thomas‘ agent Todd France probably wants to see a resolution to Dez Bryant‘s contract talks before striking a deal. Meanwhile, the Broncos have exchanged proposals with Orange Julius’ agent Frank Bauer but those talks appear to have stalled.
- The Jaguars worked out kickers Derek Dimke and Alex Henery and even though they liked what they saw, they sent them home now that Josh Scobee is recovering from his groin injury, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
- Bills running back C.J. Spiller, who could hit the open market this offseason, is signing on with agent Chad Speck, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
- When Tom Brady and the Patriots part ways, former Pats center and CSNNE analyst Dan Koppen says it will be Bill Belichick‘s call, not Brady’s. “As long as Bill is here, he will make those decisions,” said Koppen. “If Tom is not carrying his weight or he’s in a decline Bill’s going to bring him in the office and have a little speech. “Maybe he gets a hug at the end, but I guarantee it’s going to be, ‘Tom, we’re going to release you. Thanks for coming. We appreciate everything You’ve done, but I’ve got to do what’s best for the football team.'”
- In his latest piece for NFL.com, Albert Breer examines the quarterback situations for the Jaguars, Chiefs, Raiders, and Bills, including a look at the rookies in Jacksonville and Oakland, as well as Kansas City’s investment in Alex Smith.
- People around the league believe that Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith has plenty of good football ahead of him, writes Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. “Steve’s getting up there in age, but he hasn’t changed his tenacity and physicality,” said former Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, an NBC analyst. “He’s still able to impose his will. When you talk about his style of play, pairing up with the Baltimore Ravens, the two go hand in hand. He brings that toughness to the offense they haven’t had since Anquan Boldin was playing for them.”
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Latest On Doug Marrone, Bills’ Front Office
2:39pm: A league source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that the cause of the heated exchange between Marrone and team officials was the Bills’ decision to sign Kyle Orton so late in the preseason to a contract that suggests he may see playing time this season. As Florio points out, for Buffalo to have a good season, E.J. Manuel will likely need to play well, and bringing in a highly-paid veteran backup a week before the season begins may not be the best approach for building his confidence.
2:06pm: According to a report from Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com, Bills head coach Doug Marrone was recently involved in a “loud verbal altercation” with various members of the team’s front office, including director of player personnel Jim Monos. La Canfora reports that the incident between Marrone and Monos resulted in general manager Doug Whaley and team president Russ Brandon to get involved as well.
La Canfora continues by writing that Marrone has clashed with a few players during the preseason, and that the coach and the front office disagree about the value of certain players, and how they’re being used — that includes guard Kraig Urbik, whom the club reportedly shopped as trade bait recently. According to the CBSSports.com scribe, Marrone also has a “strained relationship” with Monos, and told team execs to “go ahead and fire me” during the aforementioned verbal spat.
While La Canfora’s report seems damning, a pair of Bills beat writers have suggested it may not be entirely accurate. Per Tim Graham of the Buffalo News (via Twitter), a source says Monos wasn’t even present for the reported altercation, and that Marrone’s “go ahead and fire me” comment was made over beers at another time, and was being laughed about in a matter of minutes.
Meanwhile, Joe Buscaglia of WGR 550 has a response from Marrone himself, who indicated that the report is “very much” overblown.
“Hey, did we have a discussion? Absolutely. I confirm that absolutely,” Marrone said. “Are we great? We talk every day, three times a day. We talk about a lot of things. We’re competitive and I couldn’t be happier with those guys, I really couldn’t. And then the thing about Jim is great, too, because I was one of the ones that recommended Jim to come here. So there’s a lot of things in that that I think I’ll probably catch a lot of heat on from my friends because it’s just not true.“
It makes sense that Marrone would deny, or at least downplay, any tension between him and the front office, so it’s hard to know exactly how much truth there is to La Canfora’s initial report. With expectations on the rise following the addition of wideout Sammy Watkins this offseason, another last-place season in 2014 might mean Marrone’s days in Buffalo are numbered, regardless of whether or not there’s friction amongst the team’s ranks.
As La Canfora notes, it’s also possible that a shake-up could be in the works when the sale process is finalized and the franchise’s new owners take over. However, Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula continues to look like the clear-cut favorite to buy the team, and La Canfora hears that a Pegula win would make it less likely that the franchise is overhauled immediately.
Practice Squad Updates: Thursday
Here are the latest practice squad additions and cuts from around the NFL, with the most recent moves added to the top of the list throughout the day. To check out the full practice squad rosters for all 32 teams in the league, be sure to check out our updated master list.
- After being cut by the Patriots earlier today in a bit of roster shuffling, defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles has decided to stay with New England by joining its practice squad, according to Jordan Raanan of the Newark Star-Ledger (Twitter link).
Earlier Updates:
- We heard yesterday that quarterback Ryan Griffin had cleared waivers and been added to the Saints‘ practice squad, but we didn’t hear until today which player he’d be replacing. According to Mike Triplett of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Griffin will be taking linebacker Todd Davis‘ spot.
- The Dolphins have cut linebacker David Hinds from their practice squad, replacing him with linebacker Terrell Manning, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (Twitter links).
- The Ravens have re-signed linebacker Josh Bynes to their practice squad, removing defensive tackle A.J. Pataiali’i from the unit to make room, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
Extra Points: HGH, Thompson, Raiders
Reports today, including one from ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen, have suggested that talks between the NFL and the NFLPA have intensified, as the two sides attempt to implement HGH testing and revamp the league’s current drug policy. However, NFLPA president Eric Winston has issued a statement cautioning that there’s still work to be done.
“Players who have been to any collective bargaining negotiation understand that we never describe them as ‘very close,'” Winston said. “We look at every issue we can to improve the rights and benefits of players. This process takes time, it takes creativity and it is never easy. We want to get a new agreement in place but we understand the responsibility we have to the players and to the game. It is critical that we get this right.”
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), Ted Thompson’s new contract with the Packers should keep him with the team well into his mid-60s. Rapoport reports that the deal, which was signed in July, is a three-year pact that runs through 2018.
- Meanwhile, Peter King takes an in-depth look at Thompson in a piece for TheMMQB.com, which includes the Packers GM discussing the team’s signing of Julius Peppers.
- Although a report on Wednesday suggested that the City of Oakland is closing in on an agreement for a new stadium for the Raiders, San Antonio is “still in conversations” to move the Raiders to Texas, city manager Sheryl Sculley tells Josh Baugh and Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.
- During the 48-hour window between when the Saints cut him and re-signed him, Robert Meachem received inquiries from other teams, but he says he knew the call from New Orleans was coming, tweets Sean Fazende of FOX 8 Sports.
- Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com explains why the 49ers saw $8MM in cap space disappear this week, as the cap calculations for the 2014 season started taking into account teams’ full rosters rather than just their top 51 highest-paid players.
Andre Brown, Erin Henderson Suspended
Three more suspensions have been announced today by the NFL, but unlike Wes Welker‘s four-game penalty, these late-minute bans won’t have an adverse effect on any teams around the league, since the players being disciplined are all free agents. According to Howard Balzer of The SportsXchange (via Twitter), quarterback Dominique Davis has received a one-game suspension, linebacker Erin Henderson has been suspended for four games, and running back Andre Brown has been banned for eight games.
Brown, whose penalty is the most severe, signed with the Texans earlier in the offseason, but was let go by the team in mid-August, well before roster cutdowns. Reports at the time suggested that Brown’s performance during training camp was underwhelming and that he was slipping down the depth chart, so it’s not clear if Houston knew a suspension was coming when the team decided to cut him. If the club didn’t learn about the suspension until after the fact, the decision was a fortuitous one.
The NFL suspended Brown back in 2012 for four games for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs, but that penalty was overturned since Brown tested positive for Adderall, a drug for which he had a prescription. As Adam Caplan of ESPN.com notes (via Twitter), the reason for this suspension has yet to be specified, so it’s not clear what rules Brown violated. The ban certainly doesn’t help his chances of finding NFL work this season though.
It’s also not clear why Davis was suspended for a game, though in Henderson’s case, presumably the four-game ban is related to violations of the NFL’s personal conduct policy — the ex-Vikings linebacker was arrested twice in the last year on suspicion of DUI.
Broncos Restructure Jacob Tamme’s Contract
The Broncos have created a little cap room by restructuring the contract of tight end Jacob Tamme, according to Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap, who tweets that Tamme accepted a reduced salary in order to remain with the team.
Having previously been set to earn a $3MM base salary in the final year of his contract, Tamme can still make that much if he maxes out on bonuses and incentives, but his base salary has been reduced to just $1.25MM, per Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The new deal includes up to $450K in per-game roster bonuses ($28,125 per game), as well as up to $1.3MM in incentives.
After Julius Thomas‘ emergence last season, Tamme has settled into a reduced role on the Broncos’ offense. Even with Wes Welker out for the season’s first four weeks, Thomas, Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Andre Caldwell, and rookie Cody Latimer will be among the players vying for targets. Still, given how much Peyton Manning and the Broncos like to throw, we should see the occasional pass heading Tamme’s way.
Rams, Quinn Exchanged Contract Numbers
In the wake of J.J. Watt‘s lucrative new contract extension with the Texans, the Rams have also broached the idea of a new deal for their star defensive lineman, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link), who says the team has exchanged contract numbers with Robert Quinn. However, the two sides aren’t close to anything at the moment, says La Canfora.
Quinn, 24, is coming off the best season of his three-year career, having racked up 19 sacks, 57 tackles, and seven forced fumbles in 2013, en route to earning spots in the Pro Bowl and on the All-Pro first team. As was the case with Watt, Pro Football Focus’ data (subscription required) clearly displayed that Quinn was the most impactful player at his position last season — his +74.6 grade dwarfed Greg Hardy‘s +25.6 mark, which was good for second among 4-3 defensive ends. While a handful of other players would be in the conversation, you could make the case that Quinn is the NFL’s best defensive player behind Watt.
As such, La Canfora observes that it seems unlikely the former 14th overall pick would agree to a new contract worth less than $15MM per year, which would put him right near the top of the list of the league’s highest-paid pass-rushers, and defensive players in general.
Because he was a 2011 first-rounder, Quinn remains under contract for two more years, with the Rams having exercised their fifth-year option to keep him through 2015. Given the lack of urgency to get something done, the two sides may ultimately decide to wait until after the season to reopen talks if they don’t find common ground by this Sunday.
Champ Bailey Worked Out For Lions
12:01am: Bailey’s workout went well and the Lions liked what they saw, but it doesn’t seem that any signing is imminent, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
11:26am: The Lions appear to be on the lookout for veteran help in their secondary, and will bring in cornerback Champ Bailey for a workout today, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (via Twitter). Bailey was let go over the weekend by the Saints as New Orleans cut its roster down to 53 players.
Bailey’s visit to the Lions comes on the heels of the team trying out several other free agent defensive backs. Roc Carmichael, Tommie Campbell, Chris Clemons, and Anthony Walters are among the players to audition for Detroit so far this week. The secondary, which lost 2013 starters Chris Houston and Louis Delmas this offseason, appears to be the weakest part of the Lions’ roster, or at least the group with the most question marks.
Bailey has a few question marks himself, after failing to earn a roster spot with the Saints despite receiving a $500K signing bonus when he signed with the club in April. The 12-time Pro Bowler appeared in just five regular season games in 2013 due to a foot injury, and his exorbitant cap hit made him a cap casualty for the AFC champion Broncos. He’s said to be healthy, but it remains to be seen how much he has left in the tank at age 36.