Giants Done With Josh Brown
Josh Brown will be put on the commissioner’s exempt list and he will not suit up again for the Giants, sources tell ESPN.com’s Chris Mortensen. Multiple sources also tell the veteran reporter that Brown is unlikely to ever kick again in the NFL. 
[RELATED: Giants Sign Robbie Gould]
Given that Greg Hardy and Ray Rice have been unable to find work in the NFL, it’s not surprising to hear that Brown is persona non grata in the league. Brown is one of the league’s best kickers and is coming off of one of his best seasons, but he is certainly not worth the baggage that would come with signing him at this point. After all, Hardy is still a starting caliber defensive end, but his history and bad attitude have forced him to change sports.
The Giants have until 4pm ET/3PM CT Friday to place Brown on the commissioner’s exempt list. While on the list, Brown can still collect his ~$1.15MM base salary. He can also appeal being placed on the list, but that will be an uphill battle given everything that has come out in recent days.
Bears Still Plan To Move On From Jay Cutler
After losing Brian Hoyer to a broken arm last night, the Bearss are likely to turn things back over to Jay Cutler at some point this season. It’s not a huge surprise, but one source tells Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link) that the team still intends to move on from Cutler after the year is over. 
Cutler was forced out of action (or, removed himself from action) earlier this year when he suffered a sprained thumb. It sounds like Cutler may have been able to return to the lineup earlier this month, but John Fox & Co. opted to continue with Hoyer. Last night, when Hoyer was taken out of the game, Matt Barkley took the field for the first time in his NFL career.
In 2009, the Bears shipped two first-rounders, a third-rounder, and Kyle Orton to Denver to acquire Cutler. Years later, the Bears are preparing to divorce themselves from their one-time face of the franchise. In Cutler’s 99 regular-season starts for Chicago, the team has hovered around .500 (50-49), including a woeful 3-14 record at home since 2014. In total, Cutler has completed 61.9 percent of passes and thrown 151 touchdowns against 106 interceptions.
Cowboys, OT Doug Free Restructure Contract
The Cowboys have converted $2MM of tackle Doug Free‘s base salary into a bonus, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The move creates $1MM in cap space for this season. 
Free, 32, was slated to hit the open market prior to the 2015 season but Dallas instead kept him with a three-year deal. That deal, which should keep him in place through the 2017 season, holds a total value of $15MM. All in all, Free has made a good chunk of money throughout his career. His previous deal was a four-year, $32MM deal with $17MM guaranteed.
From 2009-2013, Free did not miss a single regular season game. In 2014, he missed five games thanks to a foot injury. Last year, he got back to his old ways and started in every regular season contest. So far this year, his ironman streak is in tact. Through six games this year, Free is rated as the 50th best tackle in the NFL out of 78 qualified players, according to Pro Football Focus. Free has a 70.7 score for run blocking but his 50.0 rating for pass blocking leaves much to be desired. In total, he has a 66.0 overall grade for his 411 snaps (212 pass blocking, 199 run blocking).
Free is due to carry a $6.5MM cap number in 2017, the final year of his current deal. If the Cowboys were to cut him before June 1st, they could be on the hook for $1.5MM in dead money while saving $5MM.
Extra Points: QBs, Pats, Falcons, Jets, Chiefs
In his latest Agent’s Take column for CBSSports.com, Joel Corry examines a list of eleven quarterbacks who could be playing for new teams in 2017, with names like Tony Romo, Colin Kaepernick, and Jay Cutler topping the list. Kirk Cousins, currently playing under the franchise tag, could also be suiting up for a different club next season, especially if Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan — who once called plays in Washington — becomes a head coach this offseason.
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- The Patriots worked out linebacker Reshard Cliett today, according to Doug Kyed of NESN (Twitter link). As Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes, New England’s recent run of auditioning linebackers is due to the club’s injury situation. Jamie Collins missed Sunday’s game against the Bengals, his backup Elandon Roberts is dealing with an injury of his own, and Jonathan Freeny is already on injured reserve. Shea McClellin and Rob Ninkovich, each of whom has been playing on the line, could be options at linebacker, as could recent trade acquisition Barkevious Mingo.
- The Falcons tried out defensive tackle Jordan Hill, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweets. The Seahawks cut Hill, 25, from injured reserve last week. Hill was a key reserve during the 2014 campaign, posting 5.5 sacks, and was a part-time player (10 appearances) last season as well.
- The Jets worked out wide receiver Dres Anderson today, reports Brian Costello of the New York Post (Twitter link). Anderson, who was recently cut from the 49ers’ practice squad, tried out for the Patriots yesterdayy.
- Defensive end Sterling Bailey, defensive back Daniel Davie, and defensive back Brandon McGee worked out for the Chiefs, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets.
Giants Won’t Bring Josh Brown To London
The Giants announced that they will not bring kicker Josh Brown with them to London this week. It’s not immediately clear who they will sign to serve as their kicker when they take on the Rams. 
Josh Brown will not travel with the team to London.
In light of the news reports regarding the documents released by the State of Washington yesterday, we think it makes sense to review this newly disclosed information and to revisit this issue following our trip to London.
The Giants do not condone or excuse any form of domestic violence. Josh has acknowledged that he has issues in his life and has been working on these issues through therapy and counseling for a long period of time.
We remain supportive of Josh and his efforts.
Brown, of course, was suspended for the first game of the season based on the information that the NFL had about his domestic abuse allegations at the time. Now, more information has come to light and the league is taking a deeper look at the kicker. In the interim, the Giants are keeping him off the field.
In his five games this season, Brown has nailed 11-of-12 field goals with his only miss coming from more than 50 yards out. Last season, Brown sank a career-high 93.8% of his field goal attempts.
Bears Activate LB Pernell McPhee
The Bears announced that they have activated linebacker Pernell McPhee. In a related move, fullback Paul Lasike has been waived. 
McPhee began the season on the PUP list but returned to practice this week. McPhee was hindered by a knee injury in the summer and needed arthroscopic surgery, but he is finally healthy after months of hard work. After McPhee recorded six sacks, one interception, and 53 tackles last season, the Bears are certainly happy to get him back on the field.
McPhee came to Chicago on a five-year, $38.75MM deal last offseason and showed everyone that he was worthy of that money. Unfortunately, his troublesome knee slowed him down later in the season.
The linebacker will be on the field tonight as the Bears take on the Packers.
Latest On Bills RB LeSean McCoy
Bills running back LeSean McCoy is not playing this Sunday and could miss more time after that depending on how he heals, a source tells Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter). 
McCoy has been having a strong season for Buffalo, averaging 5.6 yards per carry through six games. Shady also has six touchdowns and one receiving touchdown, making him one of the NFL’s most productive running backs so far in this young season. Losing McCoy will hurt Buffalo, though they do have a talented backup in Mike Gillislee.
Gillislee is expected to start when the Bills face the Dolphins on Monday. Buffalo may also make a move to add another tailback to the roster.
Last year, racked up 1,187 total yards from scrimmage in 12 games. When he was out, Karlos Williams stepped up and kept Buffalo’s ground game moving. With any luck, the Bills can stay afloat with Gillislee, Jonathan Williams, and Reggie Bush in the backfield if McCoy has to miss significant time.
NFL To Investigate Giants K Josh Brown
Earlier this year, Giants kicker Josh Brown was the subject of controversy when information emerged about the domestic violence accusations. Unlike other players who have been punished in recent years over DV charges, Brown appeared to get a slap on the wrist in the form of a one-game suspension. Now, after yesterday’s revelations, many are calling upon the league office to revaluate Brown’s case and give him a harsher punishment. Moments ago, the NFL released a statement on the matter and it sounds like Brown could be in for a lengthier suspension if the allegations hold up. 
NFL investigators made repeated attempts-both orally and in writing-to obtain any and all evidence and relevant information in this case from the King County Sheriff’s Office. Each of those requests was denied and the Sheriff’s Office declined to provide any of the requested information, which ultimately limited our ability to fully investigate this matter. We concluded our own investigation, more than a year after the initial incident, based on the facts and evidence available to us at the time and after making exhaustive attempts to obtain information in a timely fashion. It is unfortunate that we did not have the benefit or knowledge of these materials at the time.
In light of the release of these documents yesterday, we will thoroughly review the additional information and determine next steps in the context of the NFL Personal Conduct Policy. We will not be making any comments on potential discipline until that time.
If Brown does receive additional discipline from the league, it raises an interesting quandary for the Giants. The G-Men are facing the Rams in London, England on Sunday and they’d have to get a kicker on a plane post haste if Brown needs to be replaced. As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (on Twitter), Randy Bullock has an up-to-date passport. Bullock kicked for the Giants in Week 1 while Brown was suspended.
Packers To Place Eddie Lacy On IR
Running back Eddie Lacy‘s season is over. Lacy will have surgery performed on his injured ankle, likely ruling him out for the remainder of the season. Taking his place will be running back Don Jackson who is being promoted from the practice squad today. The team has confirmed both moves via press release.
If Lacy is able to return, he would be eligible to come back for Week 15 of the regular season. Jackson will serve as Green Bay’s primary tailback tonight. In the longer term, it remains to be seen how the Packers will fill the void while Lacy is sidelined. The Packers acquired Knile Davis from the Chiefs earlier this week and they’ve also taken to using wide receiver Ty Montgomery in the backfield. While Montgomery offers great pass catching ability, they would like to have a more traditional runner available at times.
Lacy recently received a second opinion on his foot from Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte. Initially, the belief was that Lacy suffered a sprain, but it now looks like he is dealing with something more severe. Lacy, a powerful yet inconsistent tailback, suffered the injury in the Packers’ Week 5 win over the Giants. He toughed it out, running for 65 yards on 17 rushes the following week against Dallas.
The Packers will test out their makeshift backfield tonight against the 1-5 Bears. The Bears are allowing an average of 107.7 rushing yards per game this season, putting them roughly in the middle of the pack.
49ers Won’t Fire GM Trent Baalke?
The 49ers are 1-5 and it doesn’t sound like Chip Kelly‘s first season in SF will result in a playoff berth. Still, GM Trent Baalke‘s job is not in jeopardy at this time, according to a source who spoke with Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). 
[RELATED: 49ers Bring CB Will Redmond Back From IR]
The Niners have struggled on both sides of the ball so far this season. After getting off to a rough start with quarterback Blaine Gabbert, the team decided to give the starting job back to Colin Kaepernick. In his debut last weekend, No. 7 completed just 13 of his 29 passing attempts as San Francisco got blown out at Buffalo. Meanwhile, the 49ers’ defense has allowed more than 30 points in four of its past five games.
Despite the team’s problems, the 49ers still believe that Baalke is the right guy to select the right players for Kelly, according to Cole’s source. Personally, I’m still skeptical as to whether Baalke will be retained for a seventh season in San Francisco if things do not improve.