2017 NFL Draft Order Through Week 16
This weekend, the Browns got the best of both worlds when they won their first game of the 2016 season while the 49ers also found their way to victory. Now, the 1-14 Browns remain in the top spot as we head into the final week of the NFL season.
Here’s where we stand through Week 16. (Note: Ties are broken by strength of schedule):
- Browns 1-14
- 49ers 2-13
- Bears 3-12
- Jaguars 3-12
- Rams (pick belongs to Titans) 4-11
- Jets 4-11
- Chargers 5-10
- Bengals 5-9-1
- Panthers 6-9
- Eagles (pick belongs to Browns) 6-9
- Cardinals 6-8-1
- Bills 7-8
- Colts 7-8
- Vikings (pick belongs to Eagles) 7-8
- Saints 7-8
- Titans 8-7
- Ravens 8-7
- Buccaneers 8-7
- Broncos 8-7
- Redskins 8-6-1
Terrell Suggs Won’t Retire This Offseason
Even after a tough loss for the Ravens on Sunday, linebacker Terrell Suggs does not want to hear any retirement talk. Suggs seemed insulted when asked about the prospect of walking away from the game, as Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com writes. 
“I don’t know what you heard — what the [f—] is wrong with him?– I was always planning to come back and doing this another year,” Suggs said.
Suggs, 35 in October, played through his second biceps tear in four years this season. Despite the injury, he has eight sacks, 33 total tackles, and three forced fumbles. The advanced stats aren’t as fond of him as you’d think, but he’s still rated as the 37th best edge defender in the NFL out of 110 qualified players by Pro Football Focus. Suggs may not be the player he once was, but he clearly has lots of football left in him.
Suggs is under contract through 2018 as a part of the multi-year extension he signed in 2014. He’ll carry a cap number of $6.95MM in each of the next two seasons.
AFC East Notes: Jets, Bowles, Bills, Ryan
Is Jets owner Woody Johnson sending a message to coach Todd Bowles? The feeling around the Meadowlands has been that Bowles will keep his job in 2017, but Johnson, who never misses a game, no-showed the Jets’ blowout loss to New England, Brian Costello of the New York Post writes. Watching from wherever he was, Johnson couldn’t have been happy to see the Jets go down 41-3, giving them their latest embarrassing loss. Bowles is now 14-17 in two years as Jets coach and the game against Buffalo next week could be his last if Johnson is truly fed up.
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- It’s hard to defend Bills coach Rex Ryan in the wake of Saturday’s overtime loss to Miami, Sal Maiorana of the Democrat & Chronicle writes. Late in the game, Ryan punted on fourth-and-3 from the Buffalo 41, exhibiting little faith in his offense to convert and perhaps putting too much trust in a defense that has not held up this year. With the loss, the Bills’ playoff hopes were extinguished and, perhaps, Ryan’s fate was sealed. On Friday, GM Doug Whaley declined to give Ryan a vote of confidence. Over the weekend, it was reported that the Bills could have extra motivation to dump Ryan because of their desire to keep offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn in the organization. Lynn is expected to be interviewed for coaching jobs this offseason.
- When asked about the acquisition of wide receiver Michael Floyd, Patriots president Jonathan Kraft seemed to put the onus on coach Bill Belichick, as Phil Perry of CSNNE.com writes. “Bill decided, looking at all of the variables, that it made sense for our football team at this time of the year,” Kraft said. “That’s why Michael Floyd is here.” In Saturday’s rout of the Jets, Floyd wasn’t on the field a whole lot but he was cheered loudly by Patriots fans who were eager to see him. It will be interesting to see what kind of role he has the rest of the way.
- Could Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill return for the postseason?
Seahawks’ Earl Thomas To Return In 2017
When Earl Thomas suffered a season-ending broken tibia, he hinted on Twitter that he could retire before the start of next season. On Saturday night, the Seahawks safety put all speculation to rest. 
[RELATED: Seahawks’ Tyler Lockett Done For Season]
“I’ll def be back next year..,” Thomas tweeted (sic).
Thomas, 27, rates as Pro Football Focus’ No. 15 safety this season and he has been one of the league’s best defenders for the last seven years. His injury was a major blow for Seattle this year and fans were surprised to hear that he might walk away from the game in the midst of his prime. Apparently, Thomas was just speaking out of frustration in the wake of the injury.
Signed for another two years, Thomas is set to carry cap charges of $10.4MM in 2017 and 2018. Thomas will be back with the Legion of Boom next season as one of the top five highest-paid safeties in the league.
Seahawks’ Tyler Lockett Done For Season
No surprise here, but Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett is done for the season. He has a broken leg and will need surgery to repair it, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. 
In the second quarter of today’s game against the Cardinals, Lockett caught a 28-yard-pass in the end zone and as he was tackled, the break in his leg was immediately apparent. It was one of the more gruesome-looking injuries we’ve seen in a while and we can only hope the damage was not quite as bad as it looked.
Lockett, 24, earned a Pro Bowl nod and a First-Team All-Pro selection in his rookie year thanks in large part to his contributions in the return game. This year, he had roughly the same number of targets as last year, but had only 39 catches and 559 yards receiving versus the 51 catches and 664 yards. As a returner, he averaged 8.7 yards per attempt on punts and a strong 26.3 yards per attempt on kickoffs.
At 9-5-1, the Seahawks have clinched the NFC West. They’ll be in the postseason, but they won’t have Lockett on the field.
Raiders QB Derek Carr Has Broken Fibula
Raiders coach Jack Del Rio announced that Derek Carr has suffered a broken fibula. There is no timetable for Carr’s return, but he’ll undergo surgery tomorrow. Del Rio said that he is out “indefinitely” and did not formally rule him out for the year, but it’s hard to imagine Carr making a postseason return. 
Carr went down in the fourth quarter of today’s game against the Colts after taking a sack. He grabbed his leg, screamed out, and motioned for team trainers. Instantly, it was clear that Carr had suffered a serious injury. Now we know the extent of the damage and it’s a crushing blow to a Raiders team that seemed poised for playoff success.
With Carr under center, the Raiders have clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2002. They are 12-3 after today’s win over the Colts, but that’s little consolation for Oakland fans as they prepare to move ahead without their star QB. They will now start Matt McGloin with rookie Connor Cook behind him. The team may opt to add a third healthy QB in the coming days.
Carr has 25 touchdowns against six interceptions on the year, making him Pro Football Focus’ No. 7 ranked QB in the league heading into today’s games.
Coaching Rumors: Payton, Rams, Gruden
Despite rumors to the contrary, one source tells ESPN.com’s Mike Triplett there is no indication the Saints are more willing to part ways with Sean Payton now than they were in the past. That same source also refuted the notion that morale is low in New Orleans because of speculation over Payton’s future. Regardless, you can expect the Payton buzz to continue for a while. There’s now talk that Payton has “sincere interest” in the Rams’ opening.
Here’s a roundup of the latest coaching rumors:
- Bills offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn and Lions offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter are two to watch in the Rams‘ coaching search, Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News tweets.
- There are reasons why Jon Gruden does and doesn’t make sense for the Rams, Mike Florio of PFT writes. Gruden has star power, offensive know-how, and relationships with both COO Kevin Demoff and Washington exec Bruce Allen, who could be a GM candidate for the team. He could also help the team attract Raiders fans in the area. Conversely, one could argue that Gruden was overrated as a coach since he won a Super Bowl with a defense built by Tony Dungy and run the highly-respected Monte Kiffin. Gruden also doesn’t have a rep as a player-friendly coach.
- Panthers coach Ron Rivera has been mentioned as a possibility for the Rams‘ job, but his agent tells Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer there hasn’t been any contact between Rivera and Los Angeles. “There hasn’t been any contact,” agent Frank Bauer said. “Ron’s super happy where he’s at.” Of course, that doesn’t mean a whole lot. The Rams could still wait until after the season to reach out to Rivera and, even if they have already, his agent would never publicly confirm an act of tampering. If there is mutual interest between the Rams and Rivera this spring, L.A. would still have to negotiate a trade with the Panthers.
- Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh won’t be returning to the NFL in 2017, but he could eventually be back, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (link via PFT). If and when he goes back to the NFL, Rapoport says he could be a match for the Bears. Meanwhile, some league insiders have speculated to PFT that Harbaugh could eventually coach the Colts, reuniting him with Andrew Luck.
Bears Place Eddie Goldman On IR
Eddie Goldman‘s offseason will start a couple of weeks early. The defensive tackle has been placed on injured reserve, becoming the 19th Bears player to hit IR this season. To take his spot on the roster, center/guard Cornelius Edison has been promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. The Bears also activated linebacker Jerrell Freeman from the exempt list.
This has been a trying year for Goldman. The injury bug first got him in September when a cursed 29-14 loss to the Eagles saw Goldman, quarterback Jay Cutler, and linebackers Lamarr Houston and Danny Trevathan exit with injuries.
All in all, Goldman appeared in only six games this season. He tallied 18 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Unsurprisingly, he did not have enough snaps to qualify for Pro Football Focus’ positional rankings, but he did earn a solid 80.0 grade for his limited work. In a more complete sesaon, that would have placed him just outside of the top 25 at his position.
Cardinals Place Tyrann Mathieu On IR
With two games to go, the Cardinals are shutting down their star safety. Tyrann Mathieu is being placed on injured reserve, according to a team announcement. In a related move, safety Trevon Hartfield has been promoted from the practice squad to the active roster. 
Mathieu has been dealing with a nagging shoulder injury and he has been trying to avoid surgery. He also hasn’t completely recovered from the torn ACL that hampered him in 2015.
This hasn’t been a banner year for the player formerly known as the Honey Badger. Mathieu has appeared in only ten games this season thanks to injuries. In those games, he has 35 total tackles, one sack, and four passes defensed. The advanced numbers at Pro Football Focus have him ranked as just the No. 59 safety in the NFL with a 74.3 overall score, his worst-ever showing.
Mathieu is in the midst of a five-year, $62.5MM extension that he signed in August 2016. He’s under contract through 2021 and is currently the highest-paid safety in the NFL.
The 5-8-1 Cardinals are mathematically out of playoff contention. They wrap up the season with games against the Seahawks and Rams.
Vikings Rule Out Adrian Peterson For Saturday
The Vikings face the Packers on Saturday but they will not have Adrian Peterson on the field with them. The running back has been ruled out for the game, the team announced.
Peterson tore his meniscus in the second game of the season and his status for the rest of 2016 was very much in doubt. Miraculously, he had a quicker-than-expected recovery from surgery and managed to return this month. Unfortunately, he suffered a groin injury in his return.
Now, the Vikings have just a 3% chance of making the playoffs and it doesn’t make a ton of sense for Peterson to put himself in jeopardy. His status for Week 17 is currently unknown, but a loss on Saturday could lead to Peterson sitting out, regardless of his health.
Peterson had a dreadful start to the season before his injury and he didn’t look much better in his return on Dec. 18. Now, there’s talk that the Vikings will likely not pay Peterson’s $6MM roster bonus and instead will approach him about a pay cut prior to the bonus coming due.