Carson Palmer Not Ruling Out 2017 Return
Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer said his rehab from a broken left arm is on schedule and he is trying to make a return to the field before the end of the season, Kent Somers of AZCentral.com tweets. 
The veteran signal-caller suffered the injury in Arizona’s 33-0 loss to the Rams in Week 7 and was placed on injured reserve. Should he make a return, Palmer would need to practice two weeks before being activated. Though he is hoping to return this season, Palmer did add he was making no assurances.
With the Cardinals a long shot in the NFC wildcard hunt at 5-6, the team would likely want to rattle off a couple of wins before thinking about sending Palmer back out. A win vs. the Rams in Week 13, however, would close the gap in the NFC West to two games.
Palmer was playing well before the injury, throwing for 1,978 yards and nine touchdowns in nine games and would be a welcome addition to a team looking to get hot down the stretch.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/25/17
The Redskins added another running back to the mix.
Washington Redskins
- Signed: RB Kapri Bibbs
Wyoming Coach Expects Allen To Enter NFL
It’s been long expected that star Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen was going to enter the 2018 NFL Draft. Following the team’s game on Nov. 18, head coach Craig Bohl all but confirmed the speculation. 
While meeting with reporters following the 13-7 loss to Fresno State, Bohl was asked if Allen would return to the team in 2018. “I would say no,” Bohl told reporters, including the Casper Star-Tribune’s Brandon Foster. “He and I have had some talks, and I think he’s going to plan on moving forward (to the NFL).”
The coach’s comments weren’t the only indicator about Allen’s future. The junior quarterback was also the first player honored during the team’s senior-day ceremonies. Bohl played that off by saying, “Well, Josh is set to graduate and (is) a senior,” alluding to the fact Allen is an academic senior.
So far in his junior campaign, Allen hasn’t put up the eye-popping stats many expect from a first-round quarterbacks, amassing 1,658 yards, 13 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing just 56.2 percent of his passes. Scouts, however, rave about the signal-caller’s tools. At 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds with a cannon for an arm, Allen is seen by many as the most physically talented passer in an impressive class of quarterbacks that includes USC’s Sam Darnold, Louisville’s Lamar Jackson and UCLA’s Josh Rosen.
Teams who could be a possible destination for the Wyoming product include the Giants, Browns and Jets.
Jones Wants Input From Owners On Goodell
Though Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has relented on his threat to sue the NFL, the Cowboys owner is not giving up his battle against commissioner Roger Goodell just yet, Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams writes. 
Though the six-member Compensation Committee voted unanimously to extend Goodell, Jones expects all owners to have input on the decision when they convene at an owners-only meeting in Irving, Texas on Dec. 13. “I just want to say that we really have had, are having a lot of owner participation. So that’s a part of it,” Jones said. “It doesn’t mean at all that we’re not really pursing what we want to get done, and that is have the owners in a very positive way give input and make everyone, including ourselves, accountable.”
Pro Football Talk also reported earlier in the week that Jones will seek a secret ballot in regards to Goodell’s contract. Even if Jones receives the secret ballot, which requires a majority of 17 owners to trigger, he is facing an uphill battle. After the ballot is triggered, 75 percent of the 32 votes are needed to rescind the decision.
Regardless the outcome, Jones doesn’t seem likely to give up the fight anytime soon.
Keenum Set To Cash In During Offseason
Vikings quarterback Case Keenum is due for a substantial raise in the 2018 offseason that could earn him in the neighborhood of $15 MM per year, writes Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. 
The figure comes from salary cap analyst Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com and is based on the contract Mike Glennon signed in the 2017 offseason with the Bears. Should Keenum command the Vikings on a deep playoff run, Fitzgerald says that figure could rise to as much as $18 MM.
“If you have an arm and can throw a little bit, there’s such a scarcity of talent at the position and I think there’s a lot of worries about guys coming in from college unless you’re looked at as a super prospect and are going to be picked in the top five of the draft,’’ Fitzgerald told Tomasson.
The first name on our list of the 10 best one-year deals of 2017 from earlier this month, Keenum has significantly outperformed his $2 MM contract while commanding the Vikings to the top of the NFC North. Signed as an afterthought behind starter Sam Bradford and with the return of Teddy Bridgewater looming, the journeyman signal-caller has powered Minnesota to a 7-2 mark as the team’s starter and delivered another win in relief of Bradford in Week 5 vs. Chicago.
Fitzgerald notes that a lot will depend on the end of the season. With head coach Mike Zimmer unwilling to commit to Keenum the rest of the campaign, that figure could fall should the University of Houston product slip up down the stretch.
49ers Waive LB Ray-Ray Armstrong
The 49ers have waived linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong, head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters, including Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports (Twitter link). The move was made to clear a roster spot for the return of Tank Carradine. 
Armstrong, who received a two-year extension in December, had been relegated to primarily playing special teams after being supplanted in the starting lineup by Brock Coyle in early November. The team leader in snaps at linebacker with 532, Armstrong saw the field for just 14 snaps in Week 10 vs. the Giants.
With emergence of Coyle and first-round pick Reuben Foster in recent weeks, there just wasn’t any room in the linebacker corps on a Niners team looking toward the future. Armstrong ends his tenure with San Francisco with 53 tackles and one sack on the season.
Panthers Expect Long Rehab For Samuel
The excitement about the return of Greg Olsen was tempered, as the Panthers also placed rookie receiver Curtis Samuel on season-ending injured reserve. Samuel, who fractured his ankle vs. Miami, underwent successful surgery head coach Ron Rivera told reporters, including ESPN’s David Newton (Twitter link). 
Rivera stated now that the surgery is complete, Samuel can expect a lengthy rehab before returning to the field. “It’s going to be a long rehab, obviously, especially because it happened this late in the season,” Rivera said. “But all indications are it went well.”
Since Carolina traded Kelvin Benjamin to the Bills at the deadline, the Ohio State product has seen his playing time increase as a featured receiver alongside Devin Funchess. Before suffering the injury, Samuel produced his best game of the season with five grabs on seven targets for 45 yards. He was praised by quarterback Cam Newton, who said he was “on the cusp,” and offensive coordinator Mike Shula said there were “lots of good things” from Samuel before sustaining the injury.
Samuel finished his season with 19 receptions for 115 yards and 64 rushing yards on four carries.
AFC Notes: Gordon, Bolts, Cutler, Steelers
Browns receiver Josh Gordon declared himself ready to go despite having another week before he is ready to be activated, according to ESPN’s Tony Grossi.
“It’s been awesome. It’s been a joy. It’s been fun. It’s been exciting,” Gordon said Friday. “I think I knocked that rust off prior to getting back to the building. I think I accomplished that. First day of practice, [I was] able to adjust pretty quickly.”
Anyone worried about Gordon needing time to round into shape hasn’t kept up with his comeback. The former All-Pro receiver has been working out constantly and looks ready to go when the team can activate him in Week 13.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- The Chargers did not escape their Thanksgiving Day bout with the Cowboys unscathed. Kicker Nick Novak sustained a back injury and his status has led the team to possibly tryout kickers next week, Eric Williams of ESPN reports (Twitter link).
- Staying in Los Angeles, the Chargers also expect rookie wideout Mike Williams to miss time, though it has ruled out an ACL injury, Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams writes. Williams was carted off the field with an injury during the game.
- The Dolphins have ruled out Jay Cutler (concussion) for Week 12 vs. New England, ESPN’s James Walker reports (Twitter link). The team will turn to Matt Moore for the divisional bout.
- Steelers rookie wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster has been ruled out of the team’s Sunday night matchup with Green Bay, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. (Twitter link). The first-year receiver from USC has been impressive in recent weeks, averaging 17.2 yards per reception and logging five touchdowns on the season. He will miss the game due to a hamstring injury.
NFL Gearing Up For 2018 International Series
The league’s 2017 International Series came to a close with the Patriots’ 33-8 win over Oakland in Mexico City in Week 11. The NFL is already looking ahead to the 2018 slate of games, however, as the MMQB’s Albert Breer writes. 
Next season’s series is poised to be one of the most important to date with the opening of a new stadium designed specifically for American football. Breer writes, “Tottenham Hotspur of the Premier League opens its new 64,000-seat stadium next August, at an estimated cost of 400 million pounds. Ten million pounds (about $13.3 million U.S.) is coming directly from the NFL. In turn, the place will have locker rooms built for a football team, facilities for coaches and cheerleaders, and a sunk FieldTurf football field under a retractable grass surface for soccer that will allow for a conventional fan experience for both, without having to tarp seats for football.”
The fact that the NFL is helping finance a stadium in London should give plenty of indication about its future overseas. By teaming up with Tottenham, Breer notes the league is looking to dig into the Premier League culture and should a team decide to move to London in the next five to ten years, they will have an obvious home waiting for them. The NFL’s goal is to have a team in London in 2022 to mark the 15-year anniversary of the International Series. This is a strong move to realizing that goal.
Though there is no confirmation the NFL is looking at Tottenham as a possible home for a team in the future, the writing is on the wall.
Falcons Rule Out Freeman For Week 12
The Falcons will be without star running back Devonta Freeman when the team hosts Tampa Bay on Sunday, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (Twitter link). Freeman could not recover in time from a concussion he sustained in Week 10 vs. Dallas. 
Freeman, who had only missed one game in his first three seasons, will be sidelined for the second consecutive week. Out for most of the week going through the concussion protocol, Freeman was limited at practice on Thursday and Friday before being ruled out.
The team will look to Tevin Coleman to shoulder the load vs. Tampa Bay. In each of his last two games as the team’s workhorse, Coleman has received at least 20 carries and scored a touchdown in victories over the Cowboys and Seahawks.