Lions Had Interest in Barkevious Mingo
Before he was traded to the Patriots, the Lions expressed interest in acquiring linebacker Barkevious Mingo from the Browns, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. 
[RELATED: Browns Trade Barkevious Mingo To Patriots]
The Patriots gave up a fifth-round pick to acquire Mingo, a price higher than you might expect for a player who was mostly relegated to special teams duty last season. With other teams like the Lions in need of linebacker help, the price for the former top ten pick creeped up.
Earlier this month, the Lions learned that linebacker Jon Bostic will be sidelined for a while following an unspecified surgery. While Bostic was not slated to start, he was expected to be a key reserve. The Lions are planning to start Kyle Van Noy, Tahir Whitehead, and DeAndre Levy with the likes of Josh Bynes, fifth-round pick Antwione Williams, Jerry Franklin, and Khaseem Greene in reserve.
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Browns Trade Barkevious Mingo To Patriots
The Browns have agreed to trade Barkevious Mingo to the Patriots, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Browns will receive a 2017 fifth-round pick in return, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal (on Twitter). Both teams have confirmed the swap via press release.
[RELATED: Download The Must-Have Trade Rumors App Today!]
With Rob Ninkovich, Jabaal Sheard, and Shea McClellin nursing injuries, Mingo could be a valuable fill-in for New England. Of course, all of those injuries only further weakened the front seven after the Pats traded Chandler Jones to the Cardinals earlier this offseason.
Mingo, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2013 draft, had his fifth-year option for 2017 declined earlier this offseason. Mingo has basically become a special teams guy for the Browns – a far cry from what they expected from him a few short years ago. The LSU product was not considered a lock to even make the team this offseason and the Browns apparently will get something for him rather than nothing.
Last season, Mingo played 256 defensive snaps and did not record a single sack. He recorded 5.0 sacks as a rookie, but his production has decreased in every season since then.
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Latest On Harrison, Matthews, Peppers
This week, the NFL interviewed Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers and Steelers linebacker James Harrison with regards to the allegations raised in the infamous Al Jazeera documentary. During those interviews, the league did not raise any new evidence or allegations, a source close to the situation tells Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. 
After weeks of will they/won’t they talk, the three players consented to interviews with the league office under threat of suspension. Peyton Manning was the first player of the bunch to agree to an interview and free agent Mike Neal stands as the last straggler.
If the league has no further proof of anything tying these players to the Guyer Institute, then a statement clearing all three of them could be forthcoming.
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Texans’ J.J. Watt Could Play Week 1
Finally, a break for the Texans. Star defensive player J.J. Watt expects to practice next week, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). That’s a potentially major development towards him playing in Week 1 against the Bears at home. 
[RELATED: Latest On Texans’ Duane Brown]
Earlier this month, Texans head coach Bill O’Brien indicated that Watt could miss the first two games of the regular season. Apparently, he’s now ahead of schedule as he recovers from back surgery.
Watt, 27, has never missed a regular season game in his five-year career. In each of the last four seasons, Watt has earned Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro selections, solidifying himself as one of the most terrifying defensive players in the league.
Over his five seasons in the league, Watt has averaged 74 tackles, 15 sacks, and nine pass defended per season. In 2015, he finished with 76 tackles, 17.5 sacks, eight passes defended, and three forced fumbles. As Roster Resource shows, the Texans’ defensive end group outside of Watt includes Devon Still, Christian Covington, new addition Alex Carrington, and Brandon Dunn. If Watt misses significant time, they may want to pick up a DE.
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Latest On Texans’ Duane Brown
This hasn’t been a good week for the Texans’ offensive line. Left tackle Duane Brown is still recovering from a torn quad he is not expected to be ready for the start of the season, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. Houston is being cautious with the starting lineman, who may remain on the PUP list as he heals up. 
On Thursday morning, we learned that center Nick Martin will likely be shut down for the season. The rookie’s absence is a big blow to the Texans, but losing Brown for a significant amount of time would be arguably worse. Brown, the team’s first-round pick in 2008, has started in all 120 of his appearances with the Texans. That streak is still alive today because the 31-year-old suffered the injury in Week 17 of last season.
The Texans re-signed swing tackle Chris Clark to a two-year deal this offseason and they also have Oday Aboushi in reserve to help out at tackle. Still, the Texans may look at the free agent market in the next couple of weeks as rival teams trim their rosters.
Last year, Brown graded out as the 16th best tackle in the NFL out of 77 qualified players. Brown earned a strong 86.0 grade for his pass blocking with a less impressive 70.4 score for run blocking.
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Browns Exec: Not Looking To Move Gordon
Multiple teams have reportedly reached out to the Browns with interest in trading for Josh Gordon. However, Browns executive VP of football operations Sashi Brown says that he’s not interested in parting with his star wide receiver. 
[RELATED: Gordon Says He Wants To Stay In Cleveland]
“We’re not looking to trade Josh,” Brown said, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “I’m just not going to enter into any of the speculation. I understand what the interest is in Josh. There are literally hundreds of conversations going around the league about players all the time, and if we got into speculating about all the reports, about what could be going on and what conversations could be going on, we’d be here for a much longer time than we have.”
However, Brown did caution that every player has a price. The wide receiver, he says, falls into “the same category every other player does. There’s nothing unique to Josh in that sense.” In short, it sounds like the Browns are opposed to parting with their high-upside weapon, but they won’t rule out accepting a Godfather offer.
Gordon, of course, will be suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season. If he stays on course with his treatment plan, he will be permitted to return to the team for their October 9th showdown against the Patriots.
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CFL Open To Johnny Manziel
Could we see Johnny Manziel in the CFL? It’s not clear whether the former Browns quarterback is interested in making his comeback north of the border, but if he is, the CFL commissioner says he won’t necessarily stand in the way, as Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com writes. 
[RELATED: Cowboys Not Interested In Johnny Manziel]
“I rely primarily on the assessment of the team,” CFL commissioner Jeffrey Orridge said. “It is their charge to evaluate the talent and to bring that talent forward. To be candid, if there is a situation that we believe warrants additional input, we certainly want to provide that to the team. We’re obviously charged with making sure that the integrity of the league and the integrity of our brand is perpetuated.”
The CFL commissioner has the power to intervene in any signing and Orridge has exercised that power in the past. Earlier this summer, he reportedly blocked the Saskatchewan Roughriders from signing Greg Hardy, though a CFL spokesperson denied that in a statement.
Manziel is on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ negotiation list, meaning that the franchise has the first opportunity to sign him before any other CFL team if he shows interest in playing there. Reportedly, Manziel is working on cleaning up his off-the-field life before resuming focus on the NFL, but the CFL could be a wise pit stop to show teams that he can be a worthwhile addition.
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Steelers’ Marcus Gilbert Restructures Deal
Steelers right tackle Marcus Gilbert has restructured his contract to help give the team additional cap room. Gilbert’s salary for 2016 will dip from $3.95MM to $760K, as ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler tweets. Gilbert will likely get the leftover money in an alternate form, such as a signing bonus conversion. 
Gilbert’s concession actually marks the second time he has restructured his deal to help the team. Gilbert agreed to adjust his deal in February of 2015 shortly after inking his five-year, $30MM contract extension in August of 2014.
Last year, Gilbert was ranked as the 28th best offensive tackle in the NFL out of 77 qualified players, according to the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus. The 6’6″, 329 pound lineman started in all 16 regular season games for Pittsburgh.
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The Beat: Ryan O’Halloran On The Jaguars
With the season fast approaching, we’re chatting with beat writers from around the league to gain insight on each team’s offseason and how those moves will impact the season ahead.
Now, we continue the series by discussing the Jaguars with Ryan O’Halloran of the The Florida Times-Union. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanohalloran and check out his stories here.
Zach Links: Right now, the Jaguars don’t sound intent on signing Greg Hardy, even though they auditioned him earlier this summer. Do you sense that a change of heart is possible? Or have the Jaguars concluded that Hardy is not worth all of the baggage that comes with signing him? 
Ryan O’Halloran: The only way a change of heart is possible is if the Jaguars are equal parts beset by injuries or ineffectiveness at the defensive end spot early in the year. If they were afraid of his baggage, they wouldn’t have brought Hardy in for a visit. This way, they’ve met him, heard his side of things and worked him out so if they need to call him on a Tuesday to sign him and get to town for practice on a Wednesday, they don’t have to do all of the research.
Zach Links: The Jaguars shelled out lots of money for Malik Jackson, a player who has only one season as a full-time starter on his resume. Will the Jaguars come to regret the six-year, $85.5MM deal ($31.5MM guaranteed) or will he prove to be a difference-maker for years to come?
Ryan O’Halloran: More often than not, these gigantic deals become regrettable down the line. That said, the guess here is Jackson will be a difference-maker early in the contract. Against the Jets in the preseason opener, he showed good power by pushing a guard back and impacting Ryan Fitzpatrick’s throwing motion. The Jaguars needed a three-down interior defensive lineman like Jackson and also needed to overpay to get him.
Texans C Nick Martin Out For Season
Texans center Nick Martin recently underwent ankle surgery from Dr. Robert Anderson in North Carolina and is expected to miss the 2016 season, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. 
The injury is a big blow to the Texans who were banking on Martin to start for them in 2016. For now, Toledo product Greg Mancz is slated to take that spot. Mancz spent his rookie season on IR with a knee injury that required surgery. The good news is that the reviews on him so far have been positive.
Martin is a vast upgrade from the Texans’ previous snapper, Ben Jones, who is no longer with the team. He’s already formed a good bond with Brock Osweiler and should join the Colts’ first round pick, Ryan Kelly, as immediate starters at center for their respective teams. Martin’s arrival will see newly signed Jeff Allen slide into the right guard spot vacated by Brandon Brooks. Greg Mancz and Tony Bergstrom were hoping to compete for the pivot spot after Jones left, but both now vie for second unit duties.
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