Martellus Bennett Will Be Offseason Priority For Pats
The Patriots will have a number of important decisions to make regarding their own free agents at the end of the season, but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the club will make Martellus Bennett a top offseason priority. Acquired earlier this year in a trade with the Bears, Bennett has been everything that the Patriots have hoped for, and they have been especially impressed with the way he has battled through injury. As Rapoport notes in another tweet, Bennett will be rewarded for his performance.
Bennett has put together a very strong and efficient season, nabbing 38 of 47 targets for 504 yards and four touchdowns. Given his production and durability, combined with Rob Gronkowski‘s persistent injury problems, it makes sense that the Patriots would seek to lock Bennett up on a long-term basis. Plus, after trading Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins, and considering the struggles of Jabaal Sheard, there are fewer and fewer players that the Patriots will need to worry about re-signing at season’s end.
The tight end position is exceedingly important to the success of the Patriots’ offense, so it would not be a surprise to see Bennett land a lucrative multi-year deal even though New England is already paying Gronkowski $9MM per year (a contract that the team may also need to revisit). It is difficult to envision Bennett hitting that $9MM average annual value, but he could certainly be in line for a contract that pays him $7-8MM per year, which puts him alongside the likes of Greg Olsen and Dwayne Allen.
Now for a couple more notes out of Foxborough:
- Greg A. Bedard of SI.com explores how the Patriots can fix their defense, whose weaknesses were exposed by the Seahawks last week. Bedard believes the Pats need to evaluate rookie Elandon Roberts in the MLB role in the next three games, and if he struggles, Dont’a Hightower may have to return to a full-time MLB role. Also, New England will need to settle on a rotation at both end and tackle and sort out roles in the secondary.
- Mike Reiss of ESPN.com did not indicate that defensive coordinator Matt Patricia‘s job is in jeopardy, but given the quality of personnel on defense entering the year, Reiss believes it is fair to expect more from the unit, and it will be interesting to see how Patricia and his group respond in the coming weeks.
North Notes: McCarthy, Abdullah, Browns
The Packers are struggling, and head coach Mike McCarthy has predictably come under fire as a result. But Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports that McCarthy is not likely to lose his job, and while there has been significant conversation about McCarthy’s relationship with Aaron Rodgers, La Canfora writes that the two men share a great deal of mutual respect and that Rodgers would not support a coaching change.
That does not mean, however, that the Packers will not shake things up elsewhere. Given the overall decline in talent on the roster, GM Ted Thompson is not immune to review, and defensive coordinator Dom Capers could also be coaching for his job over the second half of the season. Some team officials also believe that the offense has become stagnant and that the offensive coaching staff could use an overhaul. Further complicating the issue is that director of football operations Eliot Wolf, long considered to be the heir apparent to Thompson, could pursue outside options this offseason, as he remains one of the more sought-after young executives in the game and he may want to capitalize on that status in case the Packers should start to fade.
Now for some more notes from the league’s north divisions:
- The Lions‘ running game could get a boost down the stretch, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Per Rapoport, Ameer Abdullah, who is currently on IR with a foot injury, will meet with Dr. Robert Anderson on Tuesday to see if he can begin practicing. There is a realistic chance that Abdullah could be active in three weeks.
- The Lions are no lock to win the NFC North, but they are certainly looking like the favorites at this point in the season. However, if Detroit collapses and fails to win its first division title in 23 years, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press does not believe head coach Jim Caldwell would keep his job.
- Although much has been made of the turmoil in the Browns‘ front office, cornerback Joe Haden does not believe those negative vibes have trickled down to the players themselves. Per Aditi Kinkhabwala of the NFL Network (Twitter links), Haden said that although he has been in locker rooms where the players have quit, the Browns’ current roster remains engaged. Haden believes head coach Hue Jackson is a big reason for that, as the players believe in him. Haden also says the team is generally too young to have developed the cynicism that a more veteran group might harbor.
- Yesterday, we took a dive into the latest notes on the AFC North.
More Speculation On Tony Romo’s Future
Now that Tony Romo has formally conceded the Cowboys’ starting quarterback job to Dak Prescott, it is time to speculate where Romo will be next season. It is possible, of course, that he stays in Dallas, and many pundits believe it would make plenty of sense for the Cowboys to keep him around. Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, for instance, says that given Prescott’s athleticism and running ability, he will always run a heightened chance of getting hurt, and Romo would easily represent the best insurance policy in the game. Plus, as a fourth-round draft choice this year, Prescott’s 2017 cap number is a meager $635K, and the Cowboys would eat $19.6MM in dead money if they were to cut or trade Romo next year.
As Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes, Romo will talk with team owner Jerry Jones in the offseason, and the possibility that Romo returns to the Cowboys on a reworked contract is certainly on the table. Jones himself recently said, “I have no plans for [Romo] not to be a part of the Dallas Cowboys. Not a consideration.” (Twitter link via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News).
There’s nothing else that Jones, ever the politician, would say at this point. But if the Cowboys do seek to trade Romo in the offseason, La Canfora and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com confirm that there would be a pretty healthy market for his services. Earlier this week, we heard that some NFL executives believe the Cowboys could get as much as a second-round pick for Romo, though others are more bearish on his value. In any event, since Romo’s contract would have to be renegotiated to make a trade work, he will have a great deal of say in where he winds up next season.
Rapoport hears that Romo “has his eyes on the Broncos” as a potential destination, assuming Denver determines that Paxton Lynch is not ready to go in 2017 and that Trevor Siemian is not the answer. The Cardinals also look like a strong possibility, and the Bears, Jets, and Bills could theoretically be interested in Romo if the circumstances are right.
And, although Jason Witten has recently stated that he does not believe Romo will retire anytime soon, Rapoport says that retirement remains a possibility, depending on how Romo’s body feels. If he does choose to hang up the cleats, Rapoport believes Romo will continue to work in the Cowboys’ organization in some capacity given his close personal relationship with the Joneses.
East Notes: Jets, Bennett, D-Jax
Let’s take a look at some notes from around the league as Week 10 gets underway in full force:
- Rich Cimini of ESPN.com does not believe Jets head coach Todd Bowles will be fired at season’s end, but that does not mean that there will be no changes to the coaching staff. Cimini writes that offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, for instance, will almost certainly be on the hot seat.
- Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that, prior to signing his mega-deal this past offseason, Jets DE Muhammad Wilkerson sat down with Bowles to discuss his past disciplinary issues. During that meeting, Wilkerson vowed to behave and assured Bowles that he understood the responsibility that comes along with such a lucrative contract, which makes last week’s letdown all the more disturbing (Twitter links). Wilkerson’s 2016 numbers are already down, and a floundering Jets team cannot afford for him to be a disappointment both on and off the field.
- Bryce Petty will be getting the start for the Jets today, largely because Ryan Fitzpatrick‘s knee is not quite game-ready. However, Fitzpatrick is serving as Petty’s backup today, while Christian Hackenberg is inactive. That decision shows just how raw Hackenberg really is; as Brian Costello of the New York Post tweets, it is clear that the Jets view an injured Fitzpatrick as a better option than a healthy Hackenberg.
- Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports that, when the Patriots acquired tight end Martellus Bennett this offseason, the two sides explored a scenario that would have added a year on to Bennett’s existing contract. However, no agreement was reached, and Bennett will consequently become part of New England’s large free agent class at season’s end.
- DeSean Jackson is out this week with a rotator cuff injury, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the Redskins wideout is likely to miss at least next week’s game as well. Rapoport’s source says that Jackson’s prognosis is “not good.”
- Earlier today, we examined the quarterback dilemmas of the Jets and Cowboys.
La Canfora’s Latest: Browns, Stafford, Chargers
Let’s take a look at the latest notes and rumors from CBS Sports scribe Jason La Canfora:
- In the wake of the Browns’ 0-10 start and head coach Hue Jackson‘s curious decision to bench rookie QB Cody Kessler in the second half of the team’s loss to Baltimore on Thursday night, La Canfora writes that tensions are mounting once more in Cleveland. The benching of Kessler–who has been one of the few sources of optimism for the club this year–created a rift between the front office and coaching staff, and it appears that more changes are on the way. At the very least, defensive coordinator Ray Horton could be relieved of his duties sooner rather than later, but owner Jimmy Haslam, who has a penchant for wholesale changes, could initiate another major shakeup. La Canfora adds that Haslam and his wife, Dee, have become increasingly hands-on, with roughly 10 departments reporting directly to ownership. Morale is especially low within the organization, as the Haslams are not football people by trade and their increased involvement is only serving to alienate their direct reports.
- Matthew Stafford is enjoying a terrific 2016 campaign, and his performance thus far, combined with the Lions‘ status as a playoff contender, has put him into the middle of the MVP discussion. Although it is too early to consider such awards, it is not too early to consider what a new contract for Stafford might look like. The Georgia product is under club control through 2017, and it has become increasingly likely that the team will explore an extension for their star signal-caller after this season is over. La Canfora confirms that those contract talks will indeed happen, and he adds that Stafford’s reps will be seeking to secure a deal that pays their client over $25MM per season. Given rising salaries for quarterbacks, including those less accomplished than Stafford–who has thrived since Jim Bob Cooter took over as offensive coordinator last November–it seems likely that Stafford will hit that target. That is especially true since Stafford’s franchise tag number for 2018 would be $26.4MM, as former NFL agent Joel Corry tweets.
- Although the Chargers will likely play out the 2017 season in San Diego, league sources believe the club has little choice but to ultimately join the Rams in Los Angeles. Even after voters resoundingly opposed the plan to construct a publicly funded $1.15 billion stadium for the Chargers in downtown San Diego, there was some optimism about an eventual deal, but La Canfora writes such optimism is misplaced. The voting results were even more lopsided than many anticipated, and league sources believe team owner Dean Spanos will relocate in the wake of the defeat. Those sources suggest that there is no “secret plan” to keep the Chargers in San Diego.
- The Raiders are sitting pretty atop the AFC West, and they have spent very little cash to get to that point. So little, in fact, that they are the only team yet to reach the spending threshold mandated in the collective bargaining agreement. The CBA requires that each team spend at least 89% of the salary cap in cash in a four-year period by the time the 2016 league year concludes, and Oakland has yet to reach that mark. If they fail to do so, the NFLPA would receive the difference in cash and could assign the funds as it sees to fit. For instance, the union could distribute that money to needy current and former Raiders who played for the team during that four-year span. However, as La Canfora observes, it is more likely the Raiders use the excess cash to reinvest in the club, with a new contract for pending free agent Latavius Murray a possibility. Plus, a player who received a signing bonus between now and the start of the 2017 league year on March 9 could have a portion of that bonus applied to the 2016 cap to comply with the spending rule.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/13/16
Here are today’s practice squad moves:
New York Jets
- We learned yesterday that the Jets had cut TE Kellen Davis and promoted CB Dexter McDougle from the practice squad to the active roster. As Kimberly A. Martin of Newsday writes, New York also signed LB Victor Ochi to their practice squad. Ochi was signed to the Jets’ taxi squad on September 12 and was promoted to the active roster in late October, appearing in the club’s wins over Baltimore and Cleveland before being waived on November 5.
Latest On Tony Romo, Dak Prescott
On the latest installment of “The Young and the Romo,” we learn that, although Tony Romo will not be in uniform for this week’s matchup against the Steelers, his return is imminent. As David Moore of the Dallas Morning News writes, Romo was a full participant in practice for three days this past week for the first time this season. If he continues on that trajectory, there is a good chance that Romo will be active as Dak Prescott‘s backup against the Ravens next week.
The key word there, of course, is “backup.” With Romo so close to being activated, ESPN’s Ed Werder hears from a team source that, although Prescott himself continues to handle the situation professionally and diplomatically, Romo’s impending availability and the chance that he could usurp Prescott could have a negative impact on Dallas’ team chemistry (Twitter links). After all, Romo surely has his supporters in the locker room who would like to see him return to action as soon as he is ready, but it would be difficult to justify such a move considering how well the team is performing under Prescott’s young but steady hand.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that, once activated, Romo will indeed serve as Prescott’s backup, but that Prescott must continue to perform in order to keep his job. Rapoport adds that the entire situation has been difficult for Romo, who has “taken it hard.” Nonetheless, Rapoport says that the veteran signal-caller will be a “good team guy” and will bide his time as the Cowboys’ backup until he is called upon (Twitter links).
With Prescott running the show, the Cowboys have jumped out to a 7-1 record and a two-game lead in the NFC East. The Cowboys are increasingly viewed as a legitimate Super Bowl contender, and their rookie quarterback is one of the biggest reasons why.
Bryce Petty To Start Today
Bryce Petty will start for the Jets against the Rams this afternoon, as first reported by Chris Moore of CBS Radio Sports Network (via Twitter) and subsequently confirmed by multiple sources.
It will be the first career start for Petty, whom the Jets selected in the fourth round of last year’s draft. He did get his first taste of regular season NFL action last week when he came in for the injured Ryan Fitzpatrick, who suffered a minor knee sprain. Petty was in the game for all of four snaps, and he completed both of his passing attempts for 19 yards. Fitzpatrick subsequently reentered and finished the game, and he practiced every day this week, albeit on a limited basis.
As Rich Cimini of ESPN.com points out, Fitzpatrick and Petty received an even number of practice reps during the week, and although Fitzpatrick was “trending toward starting” by the end of the week, head coach Todd Bowles has decided to roll the dice on Petty.
Cimini further observes that this decision could make things complicated for Bowles. Despite Fitzpatrick’s struggles and the Jets’ disappointing 3-6 record, Bowles has remained publicly committed to the veteran and has made it clear that he believes Fitzpatrick still represents the team’s best option under center. In a separate piece, Cimini writes that Bowles preferred a healthy but unproven Petty over the banged-up Fitzpatrick, and it seems as if Fitzpatrick could be reinserted into the starting lineup next week if his knee is sufficiently improved (unless Petty sets the world alight with his performance today). If Fitzpatrick does return, there will be a fair amount of backlash from Jets fans, who have been clamoring for Petty to replace the struggling Fitzpatrick for weeks.
Petty served as the backup to Robert Griffin III during his early collegiate career at Baylor, but he became the Bears’ starter for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. His tenure was nothing short of prolific, as he passed for more than 8,000 yards and 61 touchdowns against just 10 interceptions during those two seasons.
Jared Goff Could Start Next Week
We heard just last week that Rams rookie signal-caller Jared Goff was unlikely to start a game in the near future, or at least until the team was officially eliminated from playoff contention. Head coach Jeff Fisher implied that Goff was simply not ready to be thrust into game action, and as poorly as incumbent starter Case Keenum has played, it seemed as if his job would be safe for a few more weeks.
Today, however, ESPN’s Adam Schefter passes along a rather different report. Per Schefter, if Keenum struggles this week against the Jets, Los Angeles could give Goff the nod as early as next week’s matchup with the Dolphins. The Rams are hosting Miami next week, and LA wants to give Goff his first start at home in front of a friendly and supportive crowd. The decision has not been set in stone, and Keenum can apparently hang on to the starting job if he performs well against the Jets.
The odds of that, however, seem slim. In his second season with the Rams, who sit at 3-5 as losers of four straight, Keenum has completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 2,004 yards, with nine touchdowns and 11 interceptions in eight games. He ranks last in the league in Total QBR (39.6) among qualified starters.
Those struggles have understandably led to calls for Goff, this year’s No. 1 overall draft pick, to get his shot. Several weeks ago, reports indicated that Goff had made progress in terms of learning the offense, and now he may get a chance to show what he has learned on a national stage.
Latest On Chip Kelly, 49ers
Several weeks ago, 49ers head coach Chip Kelly refuted reports indicating that he was interested in returning to the college ranks and that he would entertain offers from big-time collegiate programs. Today, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Kelly was not just offering an empty, company-line denial of such rumors. Instead, colleges that privately have made overtures to Kelly’s representatives have been told in no uncertain terms that Kelly is not interested in leaving San Francisco.
Kelly signed a four-year, $24MM contract to become the 49ers’ head coach this past offseason, and his first year on the job has not been a fun one. The Niners are 1-6 and are clearly in rebuilding mode, and if Kelly’s contract expires or if he is let go before the 49ers become a competitive club once again, he may not get another shot in the league. After all, although he enjoyed some initial success during his first NFL head coaching gig with the Eagles, he effectively ran himself out of town when he tried to assume too much control of Philadelphia’s operations.
Of course, even if his NFL star has waned, his tremendous success at the collegiate level all but assures him of another prime opportunity with a college team if and when he does choose to return to campus life.
On a related note, and of particular interest given that the Saints and 49ers are set to square off today, Mike Triplett of ESPN.com reports that, when New Orleans head coach Sean Payton briefly considered moving on from the Saints after the 2015 season, the 49ers emerged as perhaps the most likely suitor for Payton’s services. Payton’s Saints are 3-4 after starting the season 0-3, and they are showing signs that they could be contenders again sooner rather than later.