NFC Notes: Lions, Staley, Redskins
Let’s take a look at some notes from the NFC as we head into the full slate of Week 9 action:
- Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com says that Lions fans should not expect any shakeups in the club’s defensive coaching staff this year, even if the defense continues to struggle. Rothstein notes that Teryl Austin is a good coordinator and that the team has shown improvement in some areas–like its pass rush and in total yards allowed–and the fact that Austin’s unit has been ravaged by injury gives him a bit of a pass.
- Speaking of injured Lions, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweets that Detroit could try to make DeAndre Levy restructure his contract at the end of the year. Levy is set to count $8.39MM against the cap, and the Lions would be on the hook for $7.2MM in dead money if they were to cut Levy.
- We learned earlier today that the Raiders were going to prioritize a new contract for Derek Carr this offseason, and former NFL agent Joel Corry tweets that Matthew Stafford would be wise to wait and see what type of deal Carr gets before entering into extension talks with the Lions.
- 49ers tackle Joe Staley, now 32, has not given any thought to retirement, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. Staley was the subject of trade rumors leading up to last week’s deadline, but he never thought he would be dealt and he continues to be singularly focused on returning the Lombardi Trophy to the Niners. He is under contract through 2019.
- Josh Doctson‘s lost rookie season may change things, but John Keim of ESPN.com does not foresee the Redskins retaining more than one of DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon. Both players, in fact, may look to move on in 2017, and if that happens, Washington would be forced to look for wide receiver help on the open market and/or expend a high draft choice on a wideout.
- We learned earlier today that the Packers would bring in free agent RB Joique Bell for a workout tomorrow.
Packers Expected To Sign Joique Bell?
10:42am: Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com cautions that Bell is only expected to work out for the Packers tomorrow. He suggests that no deal is imminent at this time
09:18am: It appears as though Joique Bell‘s tour of the NFC North will continue. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the Packers are expected to sign Bell, who has also suited up for the Lions and Bears, on Monday.
Bell signed with Chicago in September but totaled just three carries in his four appearances with the Bears. The 30-year-old back sat on the open market for a few months after being cut by the Lions back in February. He had refused to accept a pay cut from Detroit, which led to his release.
Bell averaged just 3.5 yards per carry in 2015, the lowest of his career. However, he has a history of productivity and has shown that he can be a fairly effective runner and very strong receiver out of the backfield when given the opportunity. Before Theo Riddick was doing damage as a pass-catching back in the Lions’ offense, it was Bell who was making things happen with his hands. In his first two seasons with Detroit, Bell averaged 52 catches for 516 yards.
The Packers’ backfield has been a mess this season, and although James Starks returned to practice this week, Green Bay is clearly in need of more talent. Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk summarizes the Packers’ running back woes this year, noting that injuries to Starks and Eddie Lacy have led the team to trade for Knile Davis–whom the team cut earlier this week–elevate Don Jackson from the practice squad and use wide receivers Ty Montgomery and Randall Cobb out of the backfield at times. Green Bay ranks 19th in the league in rushing yards per game.
Raiders To Prioritize Derek Carr Contract
Derek Carr will be eligible for an extension after the end of the 2016 season, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Raiders will indeed prioritize a new deal for their star quarterback in 2017.
Industry sources expect that Carr’s new contract will be in line with the mega-deal that Andrew Luck signed with Indianapolis this summer. Luck received a five-year, $123MM pact from the Colts, and Carr should be able to at least come close to that figure, though former NFL agent Joel Corry wonders if the Raiders will try to convince Carr to accept a “pay as you go” model (Twitter link).
Carr is having a tremendous season for the resurgent Raiders, who are showing rapid improvement under the steady and patient hand of GM Reggie McKenzie. Carr has completed over 66% of his passes this year and has posted a 100.9 quarterback rating, throwing for 17 touchdowns against just three interceptions. He and Amari Cooper have teamed up to form one of the best young quarterback-receiver duos in the NFL, and both players should only continue to get better.
Indeed, Carr has demonstrated marked improvement in each of his first three years in the league, and his gaudy numbers this season, combined with Oakland’s potential return to the playoffs, have thrust him into the middle of the MVP discussion. The good news for the Raiders is that they have managed the salary cap very well in recent years, so they should be able to meet Carr’s contract demands fairly easily.
However, they want to get a deal done quickly not just because they need to lock up Carr long-term, but because they will be facing several other major contract decisions in the near future. Cooper’s rookie deal is set to expire at the end of the 2018 season, and Khalil Mack‘s contract is up at the end of the 2017 campaign.
La Canfora’s Latest: Trades, Collins, Harvin
Let’s take a look at the latest deluge of notes from CBS Sports scribe Jason La Canfora:
- La Canfora confirms that the Eagles and 49ers had multiple discussions about a potential trade that would send Torrey Smith to Philadelphia, but the two sides could not agree on compensation. The Eagles would have sent a fifth-round selection back to the Bay Area in exchange for Smith, but the 49ers would not consider anything less than a third-round draft choice. Likewise, the Jets were asking for a “very strong return” for Sheldon Richardson, which some executives believe meant a first-round pick.
- The Patriots‘ decision to deal Jamie Collins was not about money, per La Canfora, who observes that New England now has only $65.8MM in salary and cash committed to the 2017 payroll, by far the least in the NFL. Indeed, the Pats could have easily paid (or overpaid) for Collins if they really wanted to, but the trade suggests that Collins was simply not in their long-term plans. Some industry sources wonder if the trades of Collins and Chandler Jones suggest that New England is set to splurge in free agency, though it is difficult to imagine the Patriots being big spenders in March. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com confirms that the Pats did not consider Collins to be a part of their future, and that the team was slowly turning him into a part-time player and was concerned about the locker room issues that such a transformation could create (Twitter links).
- Percy Harvin was not contemplating a return to the league when he was contacted by the Bills, La Canfora reports. Instead, the Florida product was happily retired and was investigating potential business deals. Buffalo senior vice president of football administration Bill Overdorf first raised the potential addition of Harvin several weeks ago, and other Bills executives got on board when the team suffered a second consecutive loss. Harvin is expected to see at least limited action Monday night in Seattle.
- La Canfora reports that Chiefs brass is fully supportive of head coach Andy Reid‘s decision to keep Alex Smith out of game action this week, despite the fact that Smith remains asymptomatic of a concussion after taking two significant blows to the head last Sunday. Smith was able to lift weights regularly and work out as he normally would this week, and by Tuesday already had been cleared by an independent neurologist. However, Reid adopted a “better safe than sorry” approach that was heralded by team executives and by the NFLPA. Smith is expected to return to full practice tomorrow, which ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirms via Twitter. Justin Houston is also expected to return next week, according to La Canfora.
Latest On Norv Turner
The comments that Norv Turner made upon his resignation as Vikings offensive coordinator last week indicated that his decision was wholly voluntary and that he truly believed he was preventing Minnesota from realizing its full potential on the offensive side of the ball. But one always wonders if those types of decisions are truly voluntary, or if the club is simply allowing a respected coach to depart without the ignominy of being fired.
That does not seem to be the case with Turner, as both Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com write. Per La Canfora, the decision took the entire Vikings organization by surprise, and Turner was not pressured to step down in any way. La Canfora adds that Turner and newly-promoted OC Pat Shurmur–who was serving as the tight ends coach prior to Turner’s resignation–had a strong working relationship, but it became clear during a full staff meeting Tuesday afternoon that Turner and head coach Mike Zimmer had incompatible opinions on how to spark the Vikings’ stagnant offense. The personal relationship between the two men remained strong, but their differing professional viewpoints triggered the split.
Rapoport’s piece is largely consistent with La Canfora, though Rapoport does add that Shurmur was a “huge proponent” of the Sam Bradford acquisition and that Shurmur and Bradford “speak the same language,” whereas Turner was a bit of an outsider when it came to his newly-acquired quarterback.
Both Rapoport and La Canfora indicate that Turner has not ruled out resuming his coaching career, although Turner himself said that any new job would “need to be a right place and with the right people.”
AFC Notes: Murray, Colts, RGIII
Let’s take a quick swing around the AFC:
- Titans RB DeMarco Murray had an MRI on his toe after Thursday night’s victory over Jacksonville, and the prognosis is good, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Rapoport’s source indicated that Murray will be fine.
- Kevin Bowen of Colts.com believes that Colts TE Jack Doyle has established himself as a starting-caliber tight end, and that his free agent platform year has come at a perfect time for him. Bowen says Doyle will be one of Indianapolis’ most important free agents this offseason and that he could pull down a contract with a $5MM average annual value.
- Colts DE Kendall Langford, who has the the longest active games-played streak among all NFL defensive linemen (135), will see that streak come to an end, according to Andrew Walker of Colts.com. Langford continues to deal with a right knee issue that required minor surgery during training camp, and he will sit out an indeterminate amount of time to give that knee a chance to fully heal.
- Neema Hodjat of OverTheCap.com examines what a potential extension for Raiders QB Derek Carr might look like. This is Carr’s third year in the league, so he will be eligible to receive an extension at the end of this season. Assuming he continues to play at a high level, Carr should command a five-year deal worth upwards of $110MM, according to Hodjat. And the Raiders, who have done a terrific job managing the salary cap in recent years, will be able to shell out that kind of money without much hesitation.
- Browns QB Robert Griffin III does not need surgery at this time, so he could possibly return somewhere between the November 20 game against the Steelers and the Dececmber 11 matchup against the Bengals after the bye week, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cabot believes the Browns should get RGIII some action this year if possible, as they have to decide if they need to draft a quarterback in April.
- Ben Volin of the Boston Globe opines that the Patriots‘ recent trades for Kyle Van Noy and Eric Rowe indicate that the team is preparing for significant free agent losses this offseason. Both players are under club control through at least 2017, and they are playing on fairly inexpensive deals. Van Noy will serve as insurance should one or both of Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower depart in free agency, and Rowe will offset the potential losses of Malcolm Butler and/or Logan Ryan.
- Volin tweets that Jacoby Brissett could be the Patriots‘ one player to return from IR this season.
Latest On Rams, Jared Goff
We learned a few days ago that Rams rookie quarterback Jared Goff has been taking more reps with the first-team offense in practice, which would seem to suggest that this year’s No. 1 overall pick could see the field for the first time in his NFL career sooner rather than later. Case Keenum‘s abysmal performance in last week’s loss to the Giants added more fuel to the Goff fire.
Steve Wyche of the NFL Network confirms that Los Angeles is indeed getting Goff ready to make his professional debut. After all, in the wake of the Rams’ three-game losing streak, why wouldn’t the Rams give the first-team reps that Goff has been poaching back to Keenum, unless LA were preparing to usher in the Goff era?
Wyche adds that Goff has made progress in terms of learning the offense, and that the team would have been comfortable inserting him into the game last week should Keenum have suffered an injury. And it’s not as if the Rams have anything to lose by inserting Goff now, as it is difficult to imagine the offense being more ineffective with the California product under center.
Plus, as Vincent Bonsignore in a column for the Orange County Register writes, head coach Jeff Fisher probably needs a strong finish to keep his job. It was not that long ago that an extension for Fisher was considered all but done, but the last three weeks have changed things in a big way. Fisher’s famous proclamation on the latest season of “Hard Knocks” that his team would not finish the 2016 campaign with a mediocre record not only established a baseline record for the Rams, but also set the standard by which Fisher’s future with the club should be measured.
At this point, the player that the Rams traded a king’s ransom to draft might be Fisher’s best shot to meet that standard.
Trade Rumors: T. Smith, Browns, Richardson
We heard last week that the Eagles, who are desperate for wide receiver help, were discussing a potential trade for the 49ers‘ Torrey Smith, but both Philadelphia and San Francisco refuted those reports just several days later. However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk said today that the Eagles are continuing to explore a trade for a receiver, and that the Smith talks are still alive. Florio added that it is unclear whether Philadelphia has its eyes on any other receiver at this point.
With Tuesday’s trade deadline fast approaching, let’s take a look at a few more trade-related notes:
- Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Browns will indeed try to trade Josh Gordon prior to the deadline. We learned earlier today that Gordon was recently released from an inpatient rehab facility and that he is eligible to be traded despite the fact that he has not been reinstated by the NFL. Even if he is dealt, of course, he would need to be reinstated before suiting up for his new club.
- We also learned earlier today that the Browns could look to move Joe Haden, who has been generating a fair amount of interest around the league, but that Joe Thomas will likely remain in Cleveland.
- Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com says he would not be surprised if Eagles GM Howie Roseman at least made a call to the Browns to inquire about Josh Gordon.
- Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that teams are calling the Jets about Sheldon Richardson. Such a trade would make plenty of sense, as Gang Green could move on from Richardson next year anyway, although Rich Cimini of ESPN.com does not believe the Jets would get enough in return for Richardson or Brandon Marshall to make trading either player worthwhile.
- Although it appears as if the Buccaneers could be in the market for a wide receiver, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times does not believe the Bucs will swing a deal in advance of the trade deadline.
Latest On Ben Roethlisberger
Ben Roethlisberger exited the Steelers’ contest against the Dolphins two weeks ago with a left knee injury, and he subsequently underwent arthroscopic surgery on that knee. There were conflicting reports as to when Big Ben would return to game action, with ESPN’s Chris Mortensen indicating that Roethlisberger would miss 4-6 weeks and CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reporting that he could be ready for the team’s Week 9 matchup against Baltimore.
Another week has gone by, but we still do not have much clarity on the situation. La Canfora continues to stand by his initial report and says that Roethlisberger will suit up for the team’s pivotal showdown with the Ravens, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter is less optimistic.
Per Schefter, one source close to the situation said, “Ben always puts a premium on the Ravens game, but it’s awfully early. I’d be nervous about it. It could be Dallas [in Week 10] or even the week after. I would guess we’re still a few weeks out.”
Given the nature of the injury, and the fact that Roethlisberger still hadn’t gotten his stitches from the surgery removed as of last week, it seems as if Schefter’s report may be more accurate that La Canfora’s.
Josh Gordon Released From Rehab Facility
Embattled Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon has been released from an inpatient treatment facility, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, citing league sources. Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer confirms the report.
Schefter reports that Gordon was released last week after completing the 30-day program in New Hampshire, which is said to be the most intensive treatment that he has gone through. One league source added that Gordon is doing “a lot better.”
We heard late last month that the Browns plan to part with Gordon, and Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reports that those plans have not changed, even though Cleveland controls Gordon’s rights for two more seasons. Both Ulrich and Schefter report that Cleveland would like to trade the Baylor product, and there is some question as to whether he can be dealt, since he remains suspended and there is no indication that he will be reinstated by the league prior to Tuesday’s 4pm trade deadline. Cabot, however, reports that the Browns can indeed try to trade Gordon by Tuesday, even if he is not reinstated.
Gordon was set to return from a four-game suspension on October 9 against New England, but he chose to enter rehab instead. He has been suspended for 35 of the Browns’ last 40 games because of recurring violation’s of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. If he is, in fact, eligible to be traded, the Eagles are one team that would seem like a perfect match on paper.
Now let’s take a quick look at several more Browns-related items:
- Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that cornerback Joe Haden has been the subject of trade talks, and if he can prove he’s healthy, Rapoport believes those talks could really heat up in advance of the trade deadline.
- Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports confirms recent reports that LT Joe Thomas is unlikely to be moved, given that the Browns are seeking greater compensation than the market will bear.