Dolphins Offered Reshad Jones To Steelers Before Minkah Fitzpatrick Trade
The Dolphins were shopping veteran safety Reshad Jones this summer, and the Steelers, who had made it clear to rival teams that they were in the market for secondary help, were an obvious match. As Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes, Miami did indeed attempt to deal Jones to Pittsburgh at the start of the season.
However, the Steelers said they preferred Minkah Fitzpatrick, though the Dolphins initially suggested Fitzpatrick was not going to be moved. Of course, Miami quickly changed its stance in that regard and said it would deal Fitzpatrick if a first-rounder was included in the trade.
La Canfora says several teams were willing to meet the Dolphins’ asking price, but Miami chose Pittsburgh’s offer because it believed the Steelers’ 2020 first-rounder would be higher than those of the other suitors. Of course, that may not turn out to be the case, as Fitzpatrick has provided a jolt to the Steelers’ defense and has helped Pittsburgh (4-4) climb back into the AFC playoff picture.
Fitzpatrick was publicly unhappy with the way he was being deployed in Miami, but he and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin established from the beginning that the Alabama product would be used in a centerfielder role that would highlight his playmaking abilities. And Fitzpatrick has certainly made plays, recording four interceptions in his six games in the Steel City, including a critical pick-six in Pittsburgh’s win over the Colts last week.
Jones, meanwhile, is under contract with the Dolphins through 2022, and while he indicated he is open to staying with Miami through its rebuild, the Fins may choose to cut bait this offseason to save about $5.5MM against the cap, even though they would incur a big dead money charge by doing so.
Cam Newton Considering Surgery
Ever since Panthers QB Cam Newton was forced to the sidelines with a Lisfranc injury after his team’s Week 2 loss to the Buccaneers, we heard that the star signal-caller would not undergo surgery. However, now that he has been placed on IR, that could change.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that Newton is indeed considering surgery to repair the injury, and the procedure could take place within the next two weeks. The maximum recovery period is three months, so Newton would be healed in plenty of time for the Panthers to fully consider all of their options with respect to their former No. 1 overall pick.
Rapoport says that a trade is the most likely outcome. Newton is due $18.6MM plus a $2MM option bonus in 2020, so if he is healthy, his contract is movable. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says that there will indeed be a trade market for Newton should Carolina choose to go that route, and La Canfora’s sources suggest that the Panthers could net a first-round pick for the 2015 MVP, or at least several early Day 2 selections.
Meanwhile, Kyle Allen, who has performed so admirably in Newton’s absence, has an interesting contract situation. Because Allen spent most of 2018 on the practice squad, he was cut off his rookie contract, which means he can receive an extension this offseason (a year earlier than most other players who entered the league in 2018). If the Panthers don’t choose to extend him — and if Allen doesn’t force the issue — they will be able to keep him under club control as an exclusive rights free agent in 2020 and 2021 and then as a restricted free agent in 2022.
La Canfora says team owner David Tepper fully appreciates the benefits of having a starting QB on an entry-level contract, so while the jury is still out on Allen, it will be interesting to see whether the club pursues a team-friendly extension after this season. That certainly sounds like a possibility, though Allen’s performance throughout the remainder of 2019 will obviously go a long way towards determining his future in Carolina.
Arden Key Done For Season
Raiders defensive end Arden Key suffered a broken foot during the team’s win over the Lions on Sunday, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (Twitter link). After he received a second opinion from Dr. Robert Anderson, the Raiders announced that he will miss the rest of the season and be placed on IR.
The injury comes at a particularly poor time for Key, as the LSU product had recorded a sack in each of Oakland’s past two games and was finally beginning to display the pass rushing ability that once made him a potential first-round pick. A rocky final collegiate season in 2017 caused him to drop to the third round of the 2018 draft, and after posting just one sack in his rookie campaign, Key was making positive strides this year.
Key missed a game earlier this season due to a sprained patellar tendon, and after that diagnosis, the Raiders worked out a few edge defenders who could serve as a replacement.
In other Raiders-related injury news, cornerback Daryl Worley has a strained Achilles and will be getting an MRI, as Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. Worley has started every game for Oakland this year and recorded his first pick of the season on Sunday.
Right tackle Trent Brown sustained a knee injury on Sunday and is also waiting on MRI results, per Bair.
Jaguars Cut LB Malcolm Smith
The Jaguars are cutting veteran linebacker Malcolm Smith, per a team announcement. The Jags signed Smith at the end of October, and he lasted two games with the team. He did not register a statistic with Jacksonville, and he appeared in 29 special teams snaps.
The last couple of years have been rough for Smith, who memorably took home the Super Bowl XLVIII MVP award as a member of the Seahawks. He signed a two-year, $7.5MM pact with the Raiders in March 2015, and though he was a full-time starter for the Silver-and-Black and compiled over 100 tackles in both of his seasons in Oakland, advanced metrics were not terribly fond of his play.
Nevertheless, he was able to parlay his strong raw statistics with the Raiders into a five-year, $26.5MM deal with the 49ers in March 2017. But he missed the entire 2017 campaign due to a torn pectoral muscle, and he was cut by the 49ers before the start of the 2019 campaign despite having agreed to a pay cut earlier in the year. The 30-year-old will now look to catch on with another club in need of veteran LB depth.
In a related move, the Jags signed fellow linebacker Joe Giles-Harris to their practice squad. Jacksonville cut Giles-Harris over the weekend to make room for wideout Michael Walker, but they clearly want to keep him in the fold.
More transactions could be in the offing, as the club has an open spot on its 53-man roster and on its practice squad.
Jets To Promote RB Josh Adams, Sign LB Paul Worrilow
The Jets are promoting running back Josh Adams from the practice squad to the active roster, as Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports. Adams was the Eagles’ leading rusher in 2018 — his rookie season — having compiled 511 rushing yards on a 4.3 yards-per-carry average and three TDs. However, after adding Jordan Howard and Miles Sanders this offseason, Philadelphia waived Adams during final cutdowns in August.
Jets GM Joe Douglas, who is reportedly high on Adams, was quick to scoop him up after he cleared waivers. In fact, the club was paying Adams $25K per week while he was on the practice squad, which is a nice income for a p-squad player.
Adams’ promotion naturally led some to wonder about Le’Veon Bell‘s health, as Bell reportedly sustained a knee injury during the team’s loss on Sunday. However, Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network tweets that another team was interested in signing Adams to its own active roster, and the Jets’ decision to call him up was triggered by that outside interest and not by Bell’s health. Indeed, both Mehta and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com say that Bell’s injury is not believed to be significant (Twitter links).
Mehta adds that Gang Green will get more clarity on Bell’s status later this week, and in the meantime, the 1-7 club might as well see what it has in Adams, a former UDFA from Notre Dame. That is especially true since the other team that was interested in Adams may have been the division-rival Dolphins, who recently lost Mark Walton to a four-game ban.
Garafolo also reports that the Jets have signed linebacker Paul Worrilow (Twitter link). Worrilow, a former UDFA himself, was a starter for the Falcons from 2013-15 and also started eight games for the Lions in 2017. However, he lost the entire 2018 season to injury, and the Eagles cut him in August due to health concerns.
Worrilow quickly caught on with the Ravens after the Eagles released him, but he announced his retirement shortly thereafter. He obviously changed his mind, though, as he worked out for the Eagles twice since the season started, and he worked out for the Jets on Friday. New York obviously was impressed enough to give him a shot, and it’s worth noting that Douglas was in Philadelphia during Worrilow’s tenure with the Eagles.
Could Chargers Relocate To London?
The 2019 four-game London series has come to an end, and it was by all accounts a smashing success. As Vincent Bonsignore of The Athletic writes, television ratings and merchandise sales across the pond are on the rise, and the attendance figures and the energy of the crowds during this year’s series show that the UK may be ready to embrace American football on a full-time basis.
For a few years now, we have heard about the possibility of an NFL franchise permanently moving to London, and Bonsignore writes that the possibility of relocating the Chargers to London has been broached among league personnel. Further, Bonsignore says that while the Bolts are fully committed to moving to their brand new $4.5 billion stadium with the Rams in 2020, owner Dean Spanos would at least listen if the NFL wanted to discuss the possibility.
After all, the Chargers have not really been embraced in Los Angeles thanks to a crowded sports market and the presence of the Rams. And while some fans in San Diego have remained dedicated to the club, a large percentage cut ties completely when the team moved to LA, and it’s unknown how many will buy season tickets for the Chargers at their new venue. Per Bonsignore, owners are worried enough about the Chargers’ long-term viability in LA that they would provide necessary support to Spanos should he want to take his club to the UK. That includes transferring the $650MM relocation fee the Chargers still must pay for the LA move to a London relocation, as well as a potential realignment of divisions.
There are plenty of logistical hoops to jump through, but London does offer a legitimate, contemporary venue (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium), as well as the unique opportunity for the Chargers to develop a new, eager fanbase. If Spanos wants it, London could be there for the taking.
Other reporters, however, are skeptical that such a move is plausible. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk points out that Jaguars owner Shad Khan has secured a right of first refusal with respect to a London relocation, so he has to say he does not plan to take his team to London before anyone else can consider it. Further, Florio’s sources suggest that no one from the league has ever talked to Spanos about moving to London, which leads him to believe that the sources behind Bonsignore’s report are pushing some other agenda (like forcing the Jags to make a decision).
Bonsignore adamantly denied Florio’s speculation (via Twitter), but Jason Cole of Bleacher Report says that no one in the NFL has talked to the Chargers about moving to England (Twitter link). Coles concedes that the topic may have been broached among other league personnel, but his source says that the Bolts are definitely staying in the US.
Either way, it’s an interesting possibility to consider, especially since the NFL seems closer to having a permanent London team than it ever has.
Redskins Sign Deshazor Everett To Extension
The Redskins and safety Deshazor Everett have agreed to a three-year extension, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The deal carries $6MM in base value, plus additional incentives, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter link).
Everett was playing out the final year of the two-year, $2.6MM pact he signed with Washington in March 2018. At the time, he was coming off a 2017 campaign in which he set career highs in starts (eight), tackles (52), passes defensed (five), and forced fumbles (one). The Texas A&M product saw an increased role in the Redskins’ secondary that season due to injuries to the club’s other DBs, but his defensive snaps have fallen off considerably since.
Nonetheless, he remains a valuable special teams contributor, and the Redskins have elected to keep him under contract as a result. He has missed the last three games with an ankle injury, but that does not appear to be a major concern going forward.
Everett has compiled four tackles this year but has not registered any other statistics.
Browns To Revert To Greg Robinson At LT
After benching left tackle Greg Robinson for last week’s loss to the Patriots, the Browns are putting him back in the starting lineup, per ESPN’s Josina Anderson (via Twitter). Justin McCray replaced Robinson and did not fare particularly well against New England’s fierce defensive front, though that unit would have posed problems for just about anyone. Cleveland’s offensive line as a whole allowed Baker Mayfield to be sacked five times, and the team’s coaching staff obviously believes Robinson will do a better job of protecting Mayfield’s blindside.
Before his benching, Robinson allowed only one sack and two quarterback hits, but he yielded 10 pressures and was flagged five times for holding. Despite these numbers, Pro Football Focus had Robinson graded as its No. 27 overall tackle.
The Browns were looking for an upgrade at LT prior to the trade deadline, but they were unable to swing a deal. Instead, they will hope for improvement from Robinson, who was solid in his first season with the Browns in 2018.
Cleveland, 2-5, will look to right the ship against the Broncos this afternoon. Denver has notched 17 sacks on the season, ninth-most in the league.
Latest On Gardner Minshew, Nick Foles
Jaguars high-priced QB Nick Foles is expected to be healthy enough to return to the field in Week 11, as Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reiterates (video link). However, Rapoport indicated that if Foles’ replacement, sixth-round rookie Gardner Minshew, played well against the Texans in London today, Jacksonville could continue to roll with Minshew and have Foles serve as his backup.
But there’s a problem: Minshew did not play well in the Jags’ loss to Houston. He completed 27 of 47 passes for 309 yards and accounted for four turnovers (two lost fumbles and two interceptions). As such, and as Rapoport indicated in a follow-up tweet, the Jags will have a tough decision to make in the next week or so (the team has its bye next week).
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports also heard that Minshew had a chance to keep his starting job, but now his immediate future is looking much more uncertain. The Jaguars are on the fringe of the playoff picture, and while it is difficult to envision them as legitimate contenders in 2019, it would also be tough for them to keep the experienced (and well-paid) Foles on the sidelines while there is still a chance at the postseason.
Minshew has injected some life into the Jags’ franchise, but he looked very much like a rookie today, and he has struggled with fumbles all season. He obviously has plenty of promise, but he still has a lot to learn, and he may have to do some of that learning as a backup.
Deadline Fallout: Harris, Jets, L. Williams
Despite a great deal of hype, Tuesday’s trade deadline went out with a whimper. As Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes, that was largely because the presumed sellers — most notably the Bengals, Redskins, and Broncos — overvalued their assets. It was expected that Cincinnati’s and Washington’s stubbornness could torpedo potential deals, but Denver was similarly obstinate. For instance, the Broncos were asking for a second-round draft pick for CB Chris Harris when the market dictated that a fourth-rounder would be an appropriate return.
Now for more deadline fallout:
- Jets RB Le’Veon Bell recently said that his former club, the Steelers, were interested in re-acquiring him in advance of the trade deadline, and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com confirms that Pittsburgh did indeed speak with the Jets about Bell. However, when it became clear that the shoulder injury that James Conner sustained in the Steelers’ win over Miami last Monday wasn’t as serious as it first appeared, talks with Gang Green cooled. Bell wasn’t the only RB the Steelers were interested in, per Schefter, but he was easily the most prominent.
- At least one team tried to blow the Jets away with an offer for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, as Schefter writes in a separate piece. The unnamed club thought New York would be unable to turn down the blockbuster package of draft picks, but Williams was deemed untouchable by the Jets’ front office, and Gang Green stuck to its guns.
- We already heard that the Giants would try to work out a contract extension with the newly-acquired Leonard Williams, but Schefter says Big Blue will open negotiations before Thanksgiving. Of course, it could be difficult for player and team to agree on Williams’ value, and Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com believes that Williams is going to test free agency (Twitter link).
- The Rams traded Aqib Talib to the Dolphins in a pure salary dump, as they gave Miami a 2020 fifth-rounder just to take on the remainder of Talib’s contract. Peter Schrager of the NFL Network says Talib believes he will be healthy enough to return to the field this season but is unsure as to whether he will suit up for Miami (Twitter link). He may elect to cool his heels before he hits the open market in March, but he holds no ill will towards LA.