Browns, Kareem Hunt Agree To Terms
9:52am: A deal is in place, Cabot reports. The Browns are bringing Hunt back on a one-year contract worth up to $4MM, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. Hunt, who spent the past four seasons with his hometown team, will be asked to help fill the void Chubb’s injury has created.
9:12am: Kareem Hunt‘s six-month stay in free agency may be winding down. Nick Chubb‘s gruesome injury led to the Browns surveying options, and after they brought their former 1-B back in for a visit, a deal appears close.
The Browns and Hunt are moving toward an agreement, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports. A deal is expected to come together today. This would take one of the highest-profile free agents off the market and give the Browns an accomplished back who has extensive experience in Kevin Stefanski‘s system. The parties have not crossed the goal line on this deal yet, but NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport indicates it should be done by the Browns’ Wednesday practice.
Cleveland has looked into Cam Akers, who looks to again be on the outs in Los Angeles, and Trey Sermon. But the latter signed with Indianapolis’ practice squad Tuesday. Hunt, 28, has always represented the simplest solution. The Browns gave the former Chiefs draftee a second chance via a 2019 agreement, after Hunt was caught on video assaulting a woman at a Cleveland hotel in 2018, and used him frequently as an overqualified Chubb backup. Hunt signed a two-year, $12MM extension in 2020 and played a key role in the Browns ended a near-two-decade playoff drought that season.
Of course, Hunt’s past two seasons have not gone as planned. Multiple injuries slowed him in 2021, an eight-game season for the former rushing champion, and he did not re-establish quality form last year. Hunt averaged 3.8 yards per carry — by far a career-low mark — and ranked miles behind Chubb in Next Gen Stats’ rushing yards over expected metric, with the starter at an NFL-best 284 and backup at minus-10. The Browns still prioritized Hunt at multiple junctures last year, refusing to accommodate a summer trade request and then hanging onto him at the deadline. But the team was prepared to move on this offseason, building its backfield around Chubb and 2022 fifth-round pick Jerome Ford.
With Cleveland previously intending to let Hunt walk, the six-year veteran lingered in free agency and was not closely tied to any team until training camp. But Hunt has been busy over the past several weeks. He has visited the Vikings, Saints and Colts. Late last week, the Colts were still in discussions with the former Chiefs third-rounder. But it appears the Browns are willing to offer a better deal in this emergency circumstance. The team did not make Hunt an offer this offseason, per Cabot, who adds Hunt is down around 10 pounds from his 2022 playing weight. The Browns are hoping Hunt’s weight loss helps him excel in the passing-down role he held for years.
Chubb came into 2023 having never missed more than four games in an NFL season, but the perennial Pro Bowler is believed to have suffered multiple ligament tears early in the Browns’ Week 2 loss in Pittsburgh. Multiple surgeries may be necessary, CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson tweets, potentially clouding Chubb’s comeback attempt. Internal discussions have pointed to a surgery occurring before month’s end and another to take place weeks later, per Anderson, who adds Chubb is also believed to have sustained meniscus damage. This marks the second time Chubb sustained a major left knee injury. The 27-year-old star battled back after suffering multiple ligament tears while at Georgia in 2015.
The Browns, who have Chubb signed through 2024, turned to Ford as his primary replacement. Buoyed by a 69-yard run in the second half of the narrow defeat, Ford totaled 16 carries for 106 yards Monday night. While the Browns had a bigger role in mind for the ex-Cincinnati and Alabama performer this season, he played behind Chubb and Hunt as a rookie and finished Week 1 with 36 yards on 15 carries.
A Ford-Hunt backfield setup will provide some insurance for the Browns, and with Stefanski’s seat warming, it is unsurprising the team did not want to rely solely on a “next man up” process. Hunt expressed dissatisfaction with his contract last year, but his 2022 showing and the events of this offseason at the position did not give him much leverage. It appears the Willoughby, Ohio, native will end up back in Cleveland on a lower-cost deal soon.
USFL, XFL Aiming To Complete Merger
The XFL’s third try offered an interesting backdrop earlier this year, as the rebooted USFL managed to follow through on plans to play a second season. While spring-summer leagues perpetually navigate uphill battles, both finished their respective seasons. But the leagues did not fare especially well financially.
As a result, the two minor leagues of sorts are planning to merge, according to Tim Baysinger, Dan Primack and Sara Fischer of Axios.com. Details are somewhat elusive here, but InsidetheLeague.com’s Neil Stratton indicates talks have been ongoing since July. The leagues have not completed a merger yet but hope to finalize this process before the 2024 season, per Axios, and an official announcement could come this week.
Offseason football or even an in-season effort, which the United Football League tried nearly 15 years ago, has produced quick shutdowns. Although the UFL lasted multiple seasons, XFL 1.0 folded after a memorable 2001 faceplant. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the second XFL iteration to cancel its season midway through, and a messy legal battle ensued. With that coming a year after the Alliance of American Football folded before its inaugural campaign wrapped, prospects of a major spring football league in America appeared grim. But the USFL has quietly kept going. The league completed its second season this year.
Dwayne Johnson led the effort for the XFL to return, with he and ex-wife/business partner Dany Garcia reviving the once-Vince McMahon-helmed operation. The XFL, however, lost roughly $60MM this year. The XFL’s championship game still outdrew the USFL’s, earning a 1.4 rating as the USFL commanded a 1.2 number. The XFL had been expected to remain in operation, with the Giants’ assistant special teams coach — Anthony Blevins — leaving the NFC East team for an XFL HC opportunity this summer. That opportunity may now come for a renamed and expanded league.
It is unknown if both eight-team leagues will see all its franchises become part of an expanded operation or how many games would be played in home markets. Neither league went through with the latter aspect fully this season, attempting to save on travel costs. Both XFL and USFL teams featured a Houston franchise — the Roughnecks and Gamblers, respectively — so that would seemingly need to be ironed out. Should a 16-team league form, it would remind — in size only — of the original USFL, which at one point ballooned to 18 teams. That league, of course, famously combusted in the mid-1980s.
XFL 3.0 and USFL 2.0 have sent players to the NFL — most notably Cowboys All-Pro return man KaVontae Turpin, a USFLer in 2022 — and the NFL had worked out a developmental-based partnership with the XFL. It will be interesting to see how that arrangement will look should the two spring leagues complete this merger.
Should the leagues merge, one of them would also need to change its schedule. The XFL began in February last year, while the USFL kicked off in April. While this coming to fruition certainly could increase interest in spring football, the details of this merger will be critical.
Details On Patrick Mahomes’ Reworked Chiefs Contract
The Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow deals led to the Chiefs rearranging some of Patrick Mahomes‘ money. It marks an update for the two-time MVP, and the figures from the landmark adjustment are coming out.
While billed as a $200MM-plus guarantee bump, the through-2026 reworking does not hold that much in full guarantees. Mahomes will indeed see $208.1MM in total guarantees, which cover injuries, but SI.com’s Albert Breer notes the full guarantee number checks in at $133.7MM. The latter amount runs through 2025. No new years are included in the deal, which still runs through 2031. Mahomes remains the only NFLer signed into the 2030s.
[RELATED: Chiefs, Chris Jones Come To Resolution]
The full guarantee number comes in south of Jackson’s deal ($135MM) but is in line with Herbert’s ($133.7MM), with the Chargers QB’s extension likely being a checkpoint in the Chiefs’ process. Deshaun Watson‘s full guarantee ($230MM) still laps the field, with Burrow’s $146.5MM number in second. But Mahomes has already played three seasons on the historic 10-year, $450MM extension he signed in July 2020. As QBs continue to pass Mahomes to make his AAV almost look like a second-tier number, the Kansas City superstar’s camp contacted the Chiefs about an update.
Mahomes’ agent contacted the Chiefs two days before Super Bowl LVII to inquire about a contract adjustment, Breer adds. The Chiefs tabled that discussion, with GM Brett Veach indicating this offseason the team would reassess the outlier extension after the Hurts-Jackson-Herbert-Burrow contingent’s deals were finalized. Not long after Burrow inked his record-setting five-year, $275MM deal, the Chiefs moved forward with their Mahomes update.
Overall, Mahomes will make $43.3MM more through 2026 than he was originally scheduled to earn in that span, Breer adds. As OverTheCap’s Jason Fitzgerald writes, the Chiefs moved money from Mahomes’ backloaded accord to make this happen. Mahomes also picked up a $20.6MM signing bonus, which Breer confirms will be paid now and in 2024. The seventh-year quarterback will receive $56.85MM in 2023, per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.
The cap numbers from this rare agreement have not emerged yet, but ESPN.com’s Field Yates notes the transaction actually saves the Chiefs 2023 money. The defending champions created $2.5MM in cap space by making this move. The Chiefs came into the week with just more than $5MM in cap room. Mahomes also agreed to push back roster bonus dates to May during this through-2026 agreement, Breer adds, allowing for Chiefs flexibility during free agency. These bonuses, as part of a rolling guarantee structure that locked in the 28-year-old QB’s salaries a year out, were previously due on the third day of each league year.
None of the QBs to ink extensions since Mahomes’ came out have followed the future Hall of Famer’s blueprint. Burrow, Herbert, Jackson and Hurts each signed five-year deals, though Jackson’s is a true five-year pact due to the Ravens having franchise-tagged him. Hurts is signed for six years, while Burrow and Herbert are attached to their respective teams for seven due to the Bengals and Chargers signing their franchise QBs with two years remaining on their rookie contracts. This group will have more bites at the apple, but as Monday’s Mahomes move shows, the Chiefs are willing to accommodate their cornerstone player despite having him locked down for nine more seasons. It took a unique reworking to do so, however.
This agreement makes 2027 a natural next phase for negotiations. The QB market, which did not have a $30MM-per-year player until 2018, has climbed by $10MM in average salary since Mahomes raised the bar three summers ago. More QB extensions will move the salary ceiling well past $60MM by the time Mahomes and the Chiefs huddle up again. Mahomes will be set for his age-32 season in 2027.
Patriots Cut QBs Matt Corral, Ian Book
SEPTEMBER 19: Corral has spent time on the Panthers’ offseason roster, Carolina’s IR list, along with the Patriots’ 53 and New England’s exempt/left squad list. After his second stay on waivers, the 2022 third-round pick is now a first-time free agent. No one claimed Corral by Tuesday afternoon’s deadline, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets.
SEPTEMBER 18: The Patriots’ flier on Matt Corral produced an early speedbump, with the former third-round pick being placed on the exempt/left squad list. Days later, Corral is no longer with the team.
New England waived Corral from the exempt/left squad list and also released Ian Book from its practice squad. Book landed on the Pats’ P-squad last week, after he had worked out for multiple teams.
Corral missed multiple Pats practices leading up to Week 1 and was absent from team meetings. The Patriots could circle back to Corral as a practice squad addition, assuming he clears waivers, but it is not known if the Ole Miss alum is in the team’s plans any longer. It will be interesting to see if the Panthers pick up Corral for their P-squad. Frank Reich indicated the team was interested in adding him to its taxi squad following the late-August cut. Two weeks ago, Bill Belichick called Corral a “good, young developing player,” but the Pats — for the time being, at least — have moved on.
Three seasons remain on Corral’s rookie contract, but last year’s No. 94 overall pick is trending downward despite having recovered from the Lisfranc injury that ended his rookie year before it started. Trade rumors emerged early this offseason, and the team then signed Andy Dalton and traded up for the No. 1 overall pick, which became Bryce Young. The Panthers have only Young and Dalton on their active roster; they are not carrying a QB on their practice squad.
Viewed as a raw prospect, Corral generated buzz to be drafted much higher than 94th. On what became a tough night for Corral, Desmond Ridder and Malik Willis, the Panthers traded a 2023 third-round pick to move up (via the Patriots) to No. 94. The Pats hired ex-Panthers player personnel director Pat Stewart this offseason, and while that undoubtedly helped lead to the team claiming Corral on waivers, the second-year passer is back on the wire.
Bailey Zappe sits behind Mac Jones on New England’s 53-man roster, and rookie UDFA Malik Cunningham resides on the practice squad. The team could be on the lookout for a new option. The Pats had checked on Colt McCoy and discussed Case Keenum with the Texans recently.
Lions Place S C.J. Gardner-Johnson, DE James Houston On IR
The injuries C.J. Gardner-Johnson and James Houston sustained in Week 2 will lead to two key defenders moving off the Lions’ roster. The team placed the veteran safety and young defensive end on IR on Tuesday.
Initially reported as an ankle ailment, Houston is actually dealing with a fibula injury, Dan Campbell said (via the Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett). Additionally, Halapoulivaati Vaitai may be facing a multiweek absence. Campbell said the team’s right guard starter could be out for a bit, though he added (via the Detroit News’ Justin Rogers) it does not look like an IR move will be necessary.
Gardner-Johnson may be on track to miss the rest of the season. The fifth-year DB is feared to have suffered a torn pectoral muscle. With Houston suffering a fracture, he may also miss the rest of the year.
Despite the Eagles expressing interest in re-signing Gardner-Johnson this offseason, he ended up with the Lions on a surprising deal. Gardner-Johnson, who denied a report of the Eagles submitting a multiyear offer, signed a one-year, $6.5MM deal. While players have landed big-ticket contracts despite season-ending injuries in the recent past — Allen Robinson, Bud Dupree and Dak Prescott are three of note — Gardner-Johnson was aiming to use this season as a trampoline toward a more lucrative pact. A surgery taking place would wound those aspirations. The Lions have exclusive negotiating rights with CJGJ until March of next year.
Houston’s injury will blunt some surprising early-career momentum. Houston went from sixth-round pick to Detroit’s practice squad, debuting on Thanksgiving Day. The Jackson State product managed to rack up eight sacks after that late start. He started one game for the Lions this season.
While it is not known if Gardner-Johnson and Houston are both done for the season, it obviously represents good news Vaitai avoided a serious injury. A back issue sidelined Vaitai throughout last season, leading to a pay cut. The former Eagles draftee also considered retirement this offseason. The Lions have Graham Glasgow back in place as insurance, and although Vaitai beat out the returning blocker for the RG post, Glasgow has been a starter for most of his career. While the Broncos released Glasgow to pick up cap space in March, he started 33 games for the team — at guard and center — from 2020-22. Glasgow, 30, has started 91 career contests.
Browns Hosting Kareem Hunt On Visit; Cam Akers On Radar
3:25pm: This process is moving fast. The Browns are hosting Hunt on a Tuesday visit, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. This marks Hunt’s fourth known visit this offseason. He met with the Vikings, Saints and Colts. As of this past weekend, Indianapolis still had the six-year veteran on its radar.
2:52pm: Nick Chubb‘s gruesome injury has forced the Browns to look for a running back addition. The team is in the Cam Akers trade market, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Mary Kay Cabot reports Kareem Hunt is also back on the radar.
In April, a report emerged indicating the Browns were not planning to bring back Hunt, who played out a two-year, $12MM extension with his hometown team last season. But Hunt has remained a free agent for the past six months. Having visited the Colts, Saints and Vikings, the former rushing champion looms as a natural fit for the Browns, seeing as he spent the past three seasons in Kevin Stefanski‘s system.
At 24, Akers is four years younger than Hunt, who turned 28 last month. The Cleveland-area native came up in trade talks before last year’s deadline, but after Hunt completed a down season, the running back market cratered. No substantial offers have likely come Hunt’s way, leading to the longtime Chubb complementary piece remaining unattached. An interesting opportunity could soon await, though it might depend on what the Rams are willing to accept for Akers. Hunt has logged 1,106 career touches; Akers’ NFL odometer sits at 387.
At least four teams are believed to have discussed Akers with the Rams. The former second-round pick is again on the trade block, becoming a healthy scratch in Week 2. While the Rams and Akers mended fences after last year’s dustup — one that led to trade talks ahead of the 2022 deadline — Sean McVay confirmed a trade represents this latest saga’s likely endpoint.
As Chubb led the NFL in Next Gen Stats’ rushing yards over expected metric last season, with 284, Hunt finished with minus-10. Hunt gained only 678 scrimmage yards in 17 games. The 2017 rushing champ had requested a trade during the 2022 offseason, and after the Browns refused to accommodate him at that point, they were open to an in-season move. A fourth-round pick emerged as a Cleveland ask, but the team ended up hanging onto Hunt during Deshaun Watson‘s suspension. A host of lower-profile backs found deals in March, and Dalvin Cook and Ezekiel Elliott wound up with teams during training camp. Hunt and Leonard Fournette, however, have been unattached for more than six months.
Calf and ankle injuries limited Hunt in 2021; he amassed just 560 scrimmage yards that year. The ex-Chief played a major role in the Browns snapping their near-two-decade playoff drought in 2020, producing 1,145 scrimmage yards and 11 touchdowns alongside Chubb. During the Chubb-Hunt partnership, the latter played a much bigger passing-game role. Akers has not done much as a receiver during his pro career.
Hunt complementing 2022 fifth-rounder Jerome Ford in a similar capacity makes sense for the Browns, who did acquire Pierre Strong from the Patriots in August. Ford played the lead role following Chubb’s season-ending injury Monday night.
Going through an up-and-down career with the Rams, Akers did close the 2022 season well after seeing a July 2021 Achilles tear sidetrack him. Akers produced three straight 100-yard games from Weeks 16-18 but has seen 2022 fifth-rounder Kyren Williams usurp him in L.A.’s backfield. Akers rushed for just 29 yards on 22 carries in Week 1, with most of those totes coming after the Rams had put the Seahawks matchup out of reach.
Hunt arrived back in Cleveland during John Dorsey‘s GM stretch, reuniting with the exec who drafted him with the Chiefs. But Hunt signed the above-referenced extension during Andrew Berry‘s first year at the helm. With this looming as a crucial year for Stefanski (and perhaps Berry as well), it is logical the Browns are looking for a veteran to team with Ford, who totaled just eight carries for 12 yards last season. Trey Sermon also landed on the Browns’ radar, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, but the ex-49ers and Eagles back signed with the Colts’ P-squad.
49ers To Sign CB Anthony Brown
Released from the Steelers’ practice squad last week, Anthony Brown has another deal in place. This one will provide a spot on a 53-man roster.
The 49ers are signing Brown to their active roster, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. A six-year Cowboys contributor, Brown is attempting to come back from a December 2022 Achilles tear.
San Francisco saw two of its corners — starters Deommodore Lenoir and Ambry Thomas — exit during its Week 2 win in Los Angeles. Lenoir was cleared from concussion protocol, returning to the game and intercepting a Matthew Stafford pass, but Thomas did not return to action. With the 49ers preparing to host the Giants in a Thursday-night matchup, they are short on time to have the third-year corner back in action.
Lenoir has worked as San Francisco’s nickel starter in each of the first two games but moved outside when Thomas went down against the Rams, bringing offseason addition Isaiah Oliver back into the mix. The 49ers closed the game with a Lenoir-Oliver-Charvarius Ward corner combination. Brown is on track to become a depth piece.
Brown, 29, spent much of his Cowboys tenure as the team’s primary slot corner. He fared well enough to earn a second contract with the team. The Cowboys re-signed Brown to a three-year, $15.5MM deal in 2020 and kept him in place as a regular during Dan Quinn‘s first two seasons. Last year’s tear has thrown the 2017 sixth-rounder’s career off course, but the 49ers evidently feel comfortable with his form.
Quinn used Brown as a full-time player up until the injury, using the 5-foot-11 cover man on at least 90% of Dallas’ defensive snaps in each of the past two seasons. Helping the Cowboys rebound from a dreadful 2020 defensive effort, Brown played a career-high 1,048 defensive snaps in 2021. He intercepted three passes that year, giving him nine for his career. The Cowboys, who also lost Jourdan Lewis to a season-ending injury last year, traded for Stephon Gilmore in March and are using 2022 Brown replacement DaRon Bland as their slot defender this year.
Panthers LB Shaq Thompson Out For Season
SEPTEMBER 19: Thompson has already undergone surgery to repair the fibula fracture, per Reich (via Rapoport). This step will end the nine-year vet’s season.
SEPTEMBER 18: A cart transported Shaq Thompson to the locker room during the Panthers’ narrow loss to the Saints tonight. It does not look like the veteran linebacker will be in uniform again soon.
Frank Reich confirmed Thompson suffered a “significant” ankle injury against the Saints and will miss extensive time, Cameron Wolfe of NFL.com tweets. It should be expected an IR stint will take place, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports this injury is likely to sideline Thompson for the season’s remainder.
It is not yet a lock Thompson is done for the year, with NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reporting the veteran defender sustained a fibula fracture that will require more tests to determine if he has a chance of coming back this season. Thompson, 29, is the Panthers’ longest-tenured defender and the only starter remaining from the team’s Super Bowl 50 appearance. He has been with the Panthers since 2015, when the team selected him in the first round.
Thompson has made 107 starts for the Panthers — third-most by a linebacker in team history, behind only Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly. This trio was in place from 2015-18, but Davis finished his career elsewhere and Kuechly retired after the 2019 season. While the Panthers have made a number of changes on defense as they transitioned from Ron Rivera to Matt Rhule to Reich as HC, Thompson has persisted.
This offseason, the Panthers effectively gave Thompson a pay cut. Thompson had signed a four-year, $54.43MM extension in December 2019. Two years remained on that deal. Rather than head into what became a modest market for off-ball linebackers not named Tremaine Edmunds this offseason, Thompson opted to stay on a revised deal. The Panthers gave Thompson additional guarantees in exchange for the cut; he is now tied to a two-year $12.6MM agreement. Thompson received $8.5MM guaranteed on this adjusted accord, which still runs through 2024.
Carolina has moved on from a few of its linebackers in recent years, trading Denzel Perryman and then moving on from other Rhule-era pickups (Jermaine Carter, Cory Littleton, Damien Wilson). Hybrid player Frankie Luvu operates as a key off-ball presence for Carolina, which used offseason pickup Kamu Grugier-Hill in place of Thompson tonight. That arrangement may be likely to continue for the foreseeable future, barring a surprise diagnosis or the Panthers making a move at linebacker.
NFL Accuses NFLPA Of Encouraging RBs To Fake Injuries
Nick Chubb being carted to the locker room against the Steelers on Monday night highlights the importance of running backs securing guaranteed money, but this offseason brought an effective crash of the position’s market, leaving it in an unstable place. The fallout from the franchise tag deadline led to running backs meeting about the state of their position. That has come up in an NFL grievance.
The league filed a grievance accusing the NFLPA of encouraging backs and other players to fake or embellish injuries to increase their leverage, Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports. No arbitrator has been assigned to the grievance, one the NFLPA calls “ridiculous and without merit,” per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. This comes after an NFLPA grievance accused owners of colluding to impede efforts for fully guaranteed contracts.
While the NFL’s grievance accuses the NFLPA of violating CBA provisions, Maske adds it does not levy accusations of improper conduct against running backs.
“Beginning this past summer and continuing throughout Training Camp, NFL Players Association leadership, including President J.C. Tretter, have become increasingly vocal in advising NFL Players dissatisfied with their current contracts to consider feigning or exaggerating injuries to withhold service as a way to increase their leverage in contract negotiations,” the NFL said in its grievance.
This offseason’s RB market crash included a number of developments. Aaron Jones and Joe Mixon accepting pay cuts sandwiched cap-casualty releases Ezekiel Elliott and Dalvin Cook. Austin Ekeler, who remains attached to a contract he has outplayed, did not generate trade interest and returned to the Chargers after receiving a small incentive package. The franchise tag deadline — when Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard did not sign long-term extensions — and the Jonathan Taylor drama headlined one of the most eventful offseasons for a position group in NFL history.
Following the July 17 tag deadline, running backs voiced their disapproval on social media and then met to discuss the fallout in a Zoom meeting. The league alleges Tretter and new NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell participated in the meeting that included the conveying of the injury strategy, Maske adds. During a podcast appearance in July, Tretter advocated for players to gain as much leverage as they could. Although he stopped short of advocating for backs to fake injuries, the NFLPA president advised players to do what was necessary to maximize leverage.
“[The NFLPA’s] conduct is a clear violation of the union’s agreement to use ‘best efforts to faithfully carry out the terms and conditions of the [CBA]’ and ‘to see that the terms and conditions of all NFL Player Contracts are carried out in full by players,” the league’s memo reads. “The union’s conduct is also reckless as any player that chooses to follow this advice and improperly withhold services under his player contract will be subject to discipline and financial liability under the CBA, Club rules, and/or the player’s contract.”
While running backs have understandably come up, the practice of holding in has been ongoing since the 2020 CBA included language that made holdouts more difficult to wage. A number of players have staged hold-ins and been rewarded. T.J. Hockenson complained of ear and back discomfort during this year’s Vikings training camp; the tight end returned to action after finalizing a lucrative extension. T.J. Watt staged a hold-in during the Steelers’ 2021 training camp, leading to a record-setting extension. Brian Burns took the unusual route of practicing and then stepping away in a hold-in effort late this summer; the Panthers edge rusher returned to practice soon after.
The Taylor matter remains a key talking point. Jim Irsay fired a CBA-driven salvo at running backs who were discussing the position’s future. That drew the ire of Taylor’s camp, and the relationship has deteriorated in the weeks since. Taylor landed on the Colts’ active/PUP list, despite Irsay indicating in July the All-Pro RB was ready to return from the minimally invasive ankle surgery he underwent in January, and his trade request became public soon after.
The Colts engaged in trade talks with teams and are expected to revisit them, but Taylor is out for the season’s first four games while residing on Indianapolis’ reserve/PUP list. Jalen Ramsey used a similar tactic during the 2019 season, asking out of Jacksonville and using an injury excuse to miss time. Once he was dealt to Los Angeles, the All-Pro cornerback returned to action.
Chubb participated in that Zoom call, as did Barkley. Both players suffered injuries in Week 2. Chubb’s $12.2MM-per-year contract — the most recent eight-figure-per-year deal given to a back, which he and the Browns agreed to in July 2021 — runs through 2024. Barkley joins Jacobs, Ekeler and Pollard in being 2024 UFAs.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/18/23
Here are Monday’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: S Joey Blount
- Placed on practice squad injured list: OL Hayden Howerton
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: DL Demone Harris
- Released: OLB Kemoko Turay
Houston Texans
- Signed: DE Derek Rivers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Released: G John Molchon