Steelers To Pass On Keenan Lewis?
On Wednesday, Keenan Lewis visited the Steelers and even took a tour through their locker room. Still, it doesn’t sound like we should expect Pittsburgh to sign the veteran cornerback. The Steelers did not like what they saw with regards to Lewis’ hip, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. Lewis’ troublesome hip limited him to just six games in 2015. 
[RELATED: NFL To Interview James Harrison Today]
This week, a former teammate told one reporter that Lewis is still recovering from his hip injury and needs another six weeks before he can play football again. Apparently, Steelers coaches and medical personnel arrived at the same conclusion.
While the Steelers apparently have some reservations about inking Lewis, other clubs may be willing to sign him and give him the necessary time to get back to full health. In addition to the Steelers, the Lions, Jets, Cardinals, and an unidentified NFC South team have expressed interest in Lewis.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Lions Release Stevan Ridley
The Lions have released running back Stevan Ridley, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweets. Ridley had been relegated to second half duty in the first two preseason games, so today’s move doesn’t come as a massive surprise. The Lions will be on the hook for some cash as $250k of his $840k total compensation was fully guaranteed.
Ridley, a five-year veteran, was expected to challenge Zach Zenner for the “big back” role on offense but played just nine snaps in the Lions’ Thursday night preseason game last week. Ridley was also being counted on to provide NFL experience to a group that was lacking it with the Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick at the helm.
A former third-round pick, Ridley averaged 5.1 yards per carry in limited action during his rookie season in 2011, then exploded for 1,263 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns in 2012. However, fumbling issues landed him on the bench in New England, and a devastating ACL/MCL injury limited him in both 2014 and 2015.
After spending his first four years in the NFL with the Patriots, Ridley signed with the Jets last season, but didn’t see the field all that much after coming off the PUP list. With Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell handling the majority of the workload out of the backfield, Ridley took over for Zac Stacy as the No. 3 back and earned just 36 carries, totaling only 90 yards for a career-worst 2.5 yards per attempt.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Extra Points: K. Williams, Rambo, Texans, Stork
The NFL announced a change to its injury reports, as the “probable” label is no longer in effect, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. As the league explains in its memo, approximately 95% of the players listed as “probable” ended up playing in that week’s games, rendering it essentially irrelevant. No replacement is in store for the “probable” tag, as teams will rely solely on “questionable,” “doubtful,” and “out.”
More from around the league:
- Safety Bacarri Rambo is back to full health and is drawing attention from several teams as a free agent, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets. A sixth-round pick in 2013, Rambo has so far played with the Redskins and Bills.
- Five teams have shown interest in one of Rambo’s ex-teammates and fellow free agents, former Bills running back Karlos Williams, Sal Capaccio of WGR tweets. That list of teams includes the Jets, who hosted Williams on a visit Tuesday.
- Henry Melton‘s one-year deal with the Broncos is for $760K and doesn’t include any guaranteed money, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. His pact counts for $600K against the Broncos’ cap.
- The Texans did not have interest in former Patriots center Bryan Stork, now with the Redskins, when they thought he was about to hit free agency, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle tweets. That’s a little bit surprising given the high-ankle sprain recently suffered by rookie center Nick Martin, who was set to start. For now, Toledo product Greg Mancz is slated to take that role. Mancz spent his rookie season on IR with a knee injury that required surgery. Reviews on him have been positive, and Houston apparently prefers him to Stork, a former starter for the Pats.
- If you’d like a roundup of all the Joey Bosa news from Wednesday, you’re in luck. Links: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/24/16
Today’s minor moves from around the NFL:
- Chargers defensive tackle Damion Square has been suspended for four games by the NFL for a substance abuse violation, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Square was a restricted free agent San Diego initially elected not to tender during the offseason, but the team later re-signed him to a cheaper one-year deal. The 27-year-old played in six games last year and started in one after being promoted from the practice squad in November.
- The Jaguars cut running back Jonas Gray from IR via injury settlement, as Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union tweets.
- The Eagles announced that they have waived wide receiver Hunter Sharp with an injury settlement.
- The Chargers have reached an injury settlement with wideout Rico Richardson, per Wilson (Twitter link).
- The Ravens and defensive back Sam Brown have reached an injury settlement, according to Wilson (via Twitter).
NFC Notes: Eagles, 49ers, Giants, Seahawks
The Eagles have been shopping defensive lineman Taylor Hart around the NFL, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Hart doesn’t have an overly appealing track record in the league, however. The 2014 fifth-round pick from Oregon was on the Eagles’ 53-man roster throughout his rookie year, but he failed to log any appearances. In 14 games last season, the 6-foot-6, 281-pounder partook in 27 percent of the Eagles’ defensive snaps and made 27 tackles.
Here’s more from the NFC:
- When asked to characterize his association with Trent Baalke, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick said he and the GM have a “business relationship” (via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle). Further, in response to Baalke’s comment last week that he and Kaepernick broke their months-long silence with a” good conversation,” the signal-caller simply referred to it as a “conversation.”
- Giants owner John Mara the Josh Brown situation on Wednesday and said the club was in fact aware of both the domestic allegations against the kicker and his arrest (via Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com). Nothing has happened since to change the Giants’ opinion on re-signing him in April.
- Because the Seahawks made such a minimal investment in Jahri Evans (one year, minimum salary benefit with $80K guaranteed), it’s uncertain if the veteran guard is a lock for the club’s final roster. As Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times writes, Seattle is pleased with the play of left guard Mark Glowinski and first-round right guard Germain Ifedi, so a starting spot for Evans might not be available.
- As of now, the Saints and contract-year quarterback still aren’t progressing toward an extension.
Connor Byrne contributed to this post.
Patriots Trade Bryan Stork To Redskins
5:18pm: If Stork does retire in the wake of the trade, he’ll owe the Redskins half of his $477K signing bonus – $238,500 – in addition to losing his 2016 salary of $600K, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
4:37pm: The Redskins have officially announced the trade, which seemingly indicates that Stork is not going to retire.
2:15pm: The Redskins traded a conditional seventh-round pick to Patriots for Stork, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
1:49pm: Turns out, the Patriots didn’t cut Bryan Stork after all. The center has been traded to the Redskins, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 
On Wednesday morning, it was reported that the Patriots were set to release Stork. Instead, the Redskins swooped in and offered up a conditional draft pick for the veteran center.
Stork can provide some much needed depth for the Redskins at center. Starter Kory Lichtensteiger was limited to five games last season and would-be backup Spencer Long is ticketed to play left guard with Shawn Lauvao sidelined. Josh LeRibeus is the team’s other option at center, but he struggled in that role in 2015.
Stork, 25 (26 in November), emerged as the Patriots’ starting center just four weeks into his rookie season in 2014, and finished the year there. Pro Football Focus’ grades suggested that Stork’s performance was somewhat up and down, but most of his worst performances came during the first half of the season. In 2015, Stork suffered a concussion which limited him to just eight games.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bryan Stork Considering Retirement
Bryan Stork has spent more time on the front page of PFR than we could have ever imagined. This morning, Stork was supposedly on the verge of being released by the Patriots. This afternoon, he was traded to the Redskins. Now, there’s word that the center could just retire instead, as Brian McNally of 106.7 The Fan tweets. The Redskins are working to change Stork’s mind. 
The proposed trade between the Pats and Redskins calls for Washington to send a conditional seventh-round pick to New England. Right now, it sounds like the pick won’t be conveyed to the Pats and the center won’t be conveyed to the Redskins.
If the deal is nixed, it’s probably worse news for the Redskins than the Patriots. The Pats were set to release him outright and receive nothing in return. The Redskins, meanwhile, were banking on him to hold down the No. 2 center job.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Chargers Issue Statement On Bosa Conflict
The Chargers issued a pointed statement regarding their contract stalemate with 2016 first-round selection Joey Bosa: 
Our contract discussions and offers to the representatives of Joey Bosa have been both fair and structurally consistent with the contracts of every other Chargers player. Our offer included:
- An initial signing bonus payment that is larger than any player in the League has received in the last two drafts.
- More money in this calendar year than every player in this year’s draft except one (QB Carson Wentz).
- The largest payment and the highest percentage of signing bonus received in the first calendar year of any Chargers’ first-round selection since the inception of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (2011).
We gave Joey’s representatives our best offer last night, which was rejected today. The offer that we extended was for Joey to contribute during all 16 games and beyond. Joey’s ability to contribute for an entire rookie season has now been jeopardized by the valuable tie he has missed with his coaches and his teammates. Since Joey will not report at this time, his ability to produce not just early in the season, but throughout the entire season, has been negatively impacted.
As a result, we will restructure our offer since Joey will be unable to contribute for the full 16 game season without the adequate time on the practice field, in the classroom, and in preseason games.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Chargers, Bosa Still In Stalemate
We have an update on the Chargers and Joey Bosa, and it is not a positive one. The Chargers proposed to Bosa what they made clear is their best offer, a source tells Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego (on Twitter). That offer was declined and subsequently pulled by San Diego. Two sides remain very far apart as the season opener creeps ever closer. The Chargers offer to Bosa included the second most Year 1 cash behind only Carson Wentz, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. 
[RELATED: Chargers Issue Statement On Bosa]
The contract stalemate between San Diego and Bosa is centered around offset language and payout structure, as Bosa and his camp want the entirety of his ~$17MM signing bonus to be paid in 2016. San Diego, meanwhile, prefers to pay a “significant portion” of the bonus next March. The Chargers’ offer to Bosa is reportedly similar in nature to the deal agreed to between the Cowboys and fourth overall pick Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott will receive roughly 61% of his signing bonus during this calendar year, so using the same structure, San Diego wants to delay the payout of about $6.6MM of Bosa’s signing bonus until next March.
The deadline for the Chargers to trade Bosa’s draft rights have come and gone. If Bosa does not sign by the Tuesday after Week 10, he will be ineligible to play this season. In that event, the Ohio State product can re-enter the draft pool for 2017, though it’s unlikely that he’ll go No. 3 or higher.
Photo courtesy of PFR on Instagram.
Keenan Lewis Still Injured?
Cornerback Keenan Lewis is drawing interest from several teams, but he might not be ready to help any of them in the first month of the season. A former teammate of the free agent claims that Lewis says he is still hurt and needs another six weeks to recover, Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets. 
Lewis is currently in the midst of his Steelers visit and walked through the Pittsburgh locker room on Wednesday morning. In July, the veteran insisted that he would be ready for the season opener. At this point, that seems to be in question and former coach Sean Payton implied that Lewis’ health was a main factor in his release.
“He’s 52 weeks post-surgery…Just availability, ultimately. We wish him well,” Payton said. “I think ultimately, it was just trying to get him on the field. It’s just been, it seems like, a long time.”
So far, we know that the Steelers, Lions, Jets, Cardinals and an unidentified NFC South team have expressed interest in Lewis. It remains to be seen what kind of deal Lewis can fetch if he is out until early/mid-October.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.