Jaguars To Sign Roc Thomas
The Jaguars are signing former Vikings RB Roc Thomas, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Thomas, who signed with Minnesota as a UDFA last year, had an impressive preseason in 2018 and ultimately appeared in five games for the Vikes.
However, he was arrested in March for felony drug possession, and the NFL announced several weeks ago that he would be suspended for three games. Minnesota waived him shortly thereafter, and now he will attempt to catch on with the Jags (Thomas was sentenced to probation but avoided jail time for the drug charge).
Jacksonville’s RB depth chart is currently topped by Leonard Fournette, but behind him, the situation is largely unsettled. The team added a number of backs this year, including Alfred Blue, Thomas Rawls, Benny Cunningham, Devante Mays, and fifth-round rookie Ryquell Armstead, but none of them (outside of Armstead) are slam dunks to make the roster. Thomas will have a chance to compete for touches and could at least carve out a role on special teams.
The Jags are heading to Baltimore for joint practices with the Ravens this week, and Thomas will be a part of those practices, per Schefter.
In a corresponding move, Jacksonville has waived DB Jocquez Kalili.
Trent Williams Unconcerned About Fines, Still Wants Trade
As of right now, it doesn’t appear that LT Trent Williams has any intention of returning to the Redskins, though Washington still wants its seven-time Pro Bowler back. Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (citing Les Carpenter of the Washington Post), the Redskins hope that the $40K of daily fines that Williams is accumulating by staying away from the team will convince the 31-year-old to change his mind and end his holdout.
But a source tells Florio that “Williams doesn’t care” about being fined. Williams believes that the Redskins will never be able to collect the fines if he never plays for them again, as there will be no game checks from which the fines could be deducted. Plus, while Washington could also go after Williams for the $1.62MM of unearned signing bonus that has yet to be paid out, the team would lose that right if it trades Williams.
Williams still wants a trade, and he is apparently going to continue forcing the issue until he gets it. Head coach Jay Gruden said he seriously doubts that the Redskins are currently looking to deal Williams, though he concedes that he doesn’t know how to convince Williams to come back (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). Gruden said, “I do not have an understanding of what it would take to get [him] back. If I did, he’d be back here.”
We heard at the end of last month that if the Redskins were to trade Williams, it would not happen until closer to the start of the regular season. The team could also cut him, but at the moment, it looks like Washington will continue to let Williams sit without taking any action, including opening talks about a new contract.
We recently looked at four potential partners for the Redskins if they do ultimately choose to trade their former first-round pick.
Latest On Dolphins’ QB Competition
Less than a week ago, we learned that Ryan Fitzpatrick was decisively winning the Dolphins’ starting quarterback competition. Now, though, the race has tightened considerably, and Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald says that Josh Rosen may find himself at the top of the depth chart when the team returns to practice Monday.
Beasley notes that Rosen has shown improvement over the past week, while Fitzpatrick has stumbled a bit. On Saturday, Fitzpatrick threw two interceptions and nearly threw a third, and after the second pick, head coach Brian Flores sent in Rosen to work with the first-team offense, which has not happened often. Rosen responded by engineering a touchdown drive that included several excellent throws.
Flores, who was the one who declared Fitzpatrick the frontrunner on Tuesday, walked back his comments a bit on Saturday. He said, “I know I said [Fitzpatrick] was leading the way the other day, but let’s be clear there’s still a lot competition and a lot of time left. Today is a big day to showcase the improvement guys have made.”
When asked specifically about Rosen, Flores added, “[h]e’s made some improvement really across the board. It’s things a lot of people don’t see. Better footwork, better mechanics in the pocket, better decision-making.”
The Dolphins would probably like to see Rosen take the reins, as he was a first-round draft choice last year and has a legitimate chance of becoming the team’s QB of the future. Fitzpatrick, on the other hand, is in the twilight of his career and is almost certainly not going to be a part of the next competitive Miami team.
So as we head into the first week of preseason games, the race is suddenly too close to call.
Texans Waive D’Onta Foreman
The Texans have waived running back D’Onta Foreman, as John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports (via Twitter). This is obviously a disappointing result for Foreman and for Houston, who once believed that the Texas product — the 89th overall pick of the 2017 draft — had the potential to become the club’s No. 1 back.
Obviously, that never materialized, thanks in large part to an Achilles tear Foreman suffered in the second half of his rookie campaign. He had played sparingly to that point, but he showed some promise, racking up 327 yards on 78 carries (good for 4.2 YPC) and two touchdowns. He also caught six passes for another 83 yards.
But he tore his Achilles on a 34-yard touchdown run in Week 11 and spent the rest of 2017 on IR. He spent most of 2018 on the PUP list and was finally activated in December, but he carried the ball only seven times for -1 yard.
He appears to be completely healthy now, but the Texans were not happy with his work habits, and head coach Bill O’Brien was clearly less than enamored with Foreman. A reporter recently asked O’Brien about the third RB spot on the team’s roster — the reporter assumed, fairly, that Lamar Miller and Foreman were locks for the first two spots — and O’Brien replied, “who’re the first two?” (Twitter link via McClain). O’Brien then acknowledged that Miller was the starter while the backup competition was wide open.
The Texans may look to add another RB in the coming days, but for right now, the other backs on the roster are Josh Ferguson, Buddy Howell, and Taiwan Jones, along with several UDFAs. It’s not a particularly inspiring bunch, which makes the decision to waive Foreman even more telling. McClain notes in a separate tweet that the Texans will not become a potential landing spot for disgruntled Chargers back Melvin Gordon, as the club is focused on adding a backup for Miller.
It would not be surprising to see a team put in a waiver claim on Foreman, but even if he clears waivers, he should have another opportunity soon.
In a corresponding move, the Texans have signed LB Gimel President.
Yannick Ngakoue Reports To Camp
Jaguars star defender Yannick Ngakoue still doesn’t have a new contract, but he reported to camp Sunday, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. He needed to report by Tuesday in order for 2019 to count as an accrued season towards free agency, and the 24-year-old pass rusher did not want to miss that deadline. He is now eligible for unrestricted free agency next year.
The last report concerning negotiations between Ngakoue and Jacksonville indicated that the club had offered a short-term extension to the Maryland product, which Ngakoue declined. It is currently unclear how close the two sides are to getting something done, but Ngakoue indicated that talks are not active. He said, “I don’t want to keep talking about the deal. Like I said they had a chance to sign me for a long-term deal and it didn’t get done” (Twitter link via James Palmer of the NFL Network).
However, Ngakoue’s return does restore a key piece to one of the league’s best defensive lines, a unit that includes players like four-time Pro Bowler Calais Campbell and promising rookie Josh Allen. With 29.5 sacks, 70 QB hits, and no missed games over the last three years, Ngakoue has emerged as one of the best young pass-rushers in the league, and if the Jags are to return to contention this season, he will likely be a big reason for it.
Luckily, the 2016 third-round draft choice apparently doesn’t need any time to knock the rust off. Head coach Doug Marrone said that Ngakoue has passed his conditioning test and will immediately be a full participant in practice (Twitter link via John Oehser of Jaguars.com).
The team has officially removed Ngakoue from the Reserve/Did Not Report list and has waived Fish Smithson in a corresponding move.
Minor NFL Transactions: 7/28/19
Here are today’s minor moves. We will update this post as necessary throughout the day:
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: C John Yarbrough
- Waived: C Lo Falemaka
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: RB Keith Ford
- Waived: RB Aca’Cedric Ware
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: WR Malachi Dupre, WR Jordan Smallwood
- Waived/injured: WR Dylan Cantrell, WR Fred Trevillion
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: RB James Butler
- Waived: RB Chris Warren
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: QB Vincent Testaverde
NFC South Notes: Rankins, Julio, Stewart
Let’s check out a few items from the NFC South:
- Sheldon Rankins is the only player on the Saints‘ PUP list at the moment, but Amie Just of the Times-Picayune suggests that he may remain there when the regular season starts, which would automatically rule him out for the first six games of the season. Head coach Sean Payton said Rankins is ahead of schedule in his recovery from an Achilles tear he suffered in the playoffs, but Payton conceded that Rankins is likely to miss all of training camp at least. It sounds as if Payton is expecting Rankins to miss some regular season time as well, though he could not give a precise timeline. We heard back in April that Rankins was likely to start the season on the PUP list, though there now appears to be some hope he can avoid it.
- It’s now been over a year since the Falcons and Julio Jones renegotiated his contract, as Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com observes. That means that the two sides are free to make a new deal official, though McClure still does not think it will happen before Michael Thomas signs his extension with New Orleans.
- Buccaneers second-year player M.J. Stewart, a second-round pick in the 2018 draft, spent most of his rookie campaign at cornerback. GM Jason Licht said in March that he wanted Stewart to play safety, but as Greg Auman of The Athletic says, the team has reversed course. Per Auman, Stewart is back at corner, and he will compete for the fifth CB job that is currently available after Ryan Smith‘s suspension (Twitter links).
North Notes: RGIII, Duke, Vikings
Ravens backup QB Robert Griffin III will miss four to eight weeks after suffering a hairline fracture in his right thumb Saturday night, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Baltimore is optimistic that RGIII will be ready for Week 1, but if he cannot return on the early side of his recovery timeline, he will miss at least some regular season time. The Ravens will surely sign a free agent signal-caller in short order, as the only other QB on the roster behind starter Lamar Jackson is sixth-round rookie Trace McSorley. Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic says Josh Johnson, who has been on Baltimore’s preseason roster before, makes the most sense (Twitter link).
Now for more from the league’s north divisions:
- Browns RB Duke Johnson suffered a hamstring injury Saturday, and ESPN’s Josina Anderson reports that the ailment could force Johnson to miss some time (Twitter link). That will not help the fifth-year back in his quest to get traded out of Cleveland.
- The way that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin ran his field-goal drill Saturday — having incumbent Chris Boswell and challenger Matthew Wright alternate kicks rather than having Boswell take all of his tries before resetting the drill — is a departure from the way he has done things in the past, which suggests that Pittsburgh really is open to moving on from Boswell. Mark Kaboly of The Athletic still believes it’s more likely than not that Boswell will be kicking for the Steelers in 2019, but the pressure is definitely on.
- Darren Wolfson of KSTP.com says that the Vikings have some interest in running back Theo Riddick, who was released by the Lions on Saturday (Twitter link). Minnesota does not have a visit set up at this time, though Riddick will meet with at least one other team in addition to his summit with the Saints.
- Orlando Scandrick visited with the Vikings last week before signing with the Eagles, and Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets that Minnesota did not extend a contract offer to Scandrick. The Vikes have worked out several CBs recently, and when asked whether the club would ultimately sign one, head coach Mike Zimmer said that’s ultimately up to GM Rick Spielman. Zimmer said, “we’re always looking for players. We’ll keep pounding the pavement” (Twitter link via Tomasson).
“No End In Sight” To Trent Williams Holdout
Redskins left tackle Trent Williams is holding out of training camp due to several issues. One, he remains frustrated with Washington’s medical staff because he believes it was not attentive enough to a lump on his head that turned out to be a pre-cancerous growth (Williams ultimately was diagnosed by his own doctors after the 2018 season and had multiple surgeries to have the growth removed).
Second, he wants a new contract, though his current deal still has two years and $24MM remaining. Obviously, the medical issue appears to be spilled milk at this point, but Washington could assuage Williams’ lingering frustrations and get him back in camp if it were to address his contract in some way (extension, pay raise, etc.).
However, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link) says that the situation between player and team has not changed at all, so there is no end in sight to Williams’ holdout. Until something happens on the contract front, RapSheet does not expect Williams to report. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports goes one step further, reiterating his previous report that the relationship between Williams and the Redskins is “totally fractured” and that Williams has indicated he has no intention of playing for Washington again (Twitter link).
Washington is not exactly favored to take home the NFC East crown this year, but not having Williams would be hugely detrimental to the club’s chances of contending. Williams hasn’t played a full season since 2013 and has missed 13 games over the last three years, but he is still an elite LT when on the field. If the Redskins turn to their QB-of-the-future, Dwayne Haskins, at some point this year, they would love to have Williams protecting his blindside.
We also heard earlier this week that a trade or release could be in the cards if the two sides cannot find some common ground.
Dolphins WR Albert Wilson Returns To Practice
Dolphins wideout Albert Wilson was in pads Sunday and appeared to be practicing, as Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald tweets. That is certainly welcome news for the Fins, as it was reported last month that Wilson may not be ready to go until the start of the season.
Miami signed Wilson to a three-year, $24MM contract last March, and his first season in South Beach got off to a good start, as he caught 26 passes for 391 yards and four TDs in seven games. He pulled in two touchdown grabs of at least 70 yards, he threw a 52-yard TD pass, and he was averaging 11.2 yards per target.
Unfortunately, Wilson suffered a serious hip injury in October, which cut his season short. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, recently indicated that Wilson would be back on the field by Week 1 at the latest, but it appears that his timeline has been accelerated a bit.
And while the Dolphins are not going to be challenging for a playoff spot this year, Wilson is still young enough (he just turned 27) to perhaps be a part of the next competitive Miami team. It will be good for the the club to see what it has in him and to get him some reps with second-year QB Josh Rosen in camp.