New York Notes: Petty, DeOssie, Brown
Bryce Petty’s days with Jets could be numbered, as Kieran Darcy of ESPN.com writes. The second-year quarterback finds himself fighting for a job with starter Ryan Fitzpatrick, backup Geno Smith, and rookie Christian Hackenberg likely filling the top three QB spots. For what it’s worth, Fitzpatrick says that Petty has looked sharp as of late.
“The thing that I’ve noticed, the more comfortable Bryce is getting, the more decisive he’s getting, the better the ball’s coming out of his hand,” Fitzpatrick said. “He can really throw the ball. It’s just a matter of that decisiveness, not overthinking things, being able to dissect what’s going on before the ball is snapped. “I thought he did a great job in the first preseason game. His stats were what they were, but in terms of how confident and comfortable he looked out there, it was a big step up from last year.”
More from the Meadowlands:
- Giants long snapper Zak DeOssie is in a fight for a job, George Willis of the New York Post writes. After undergoing wrist surgery in December, the team had some doubts about DeOssie’s grip strength and snapping ability, prompting them to keep Tyler Ott on the roster. DeOssie, 32, is one of four remaining players from the 2011 Super Bowl team along with Manning, Victor Cruz, and Jason Pierre-Paul – for now.
- Giants kicker Josh Brown‘s fourth-degree domestic violence charge in 2015 was dropped five days after his arrest, James Kratch of NJ.com writes. Brown was suspended for one game by the NFL for a violation of its personal conduct policy, though the league did not specifically disclose whether the arrest was the reason for his suspension. According to the police report, Brown grabbed the victim’s wrist while she was picking up a phone.
- Jets quarterback Geno Smith won’t rule out a future with the team beyond 2016.
- Eli Apple isn’t the only Giants rookie that can make an impact this season, scouting guru Dave-Te Thomas tells PFR.
49ers Notes: Davis, Ponder, Garnett
49ers GM Trent Baalke admits that his offseason plans were complicated by not knowing whether Anthony Davis would come back.
“We went into it thinking, ‘You know what, if he does choose to come back it’s a bonus, but we can’t count on that,’ ” Baalke said (via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com). “It did influence some of our decisions.”
Overall, Baalke says he’s “very happy” with Davis and the way he has conducted himself since returning to the team. That’s a serious 180 from where things were just a few months ago when Davis was attacking SF via social media.
Here’s more on the Niners:
- New 49ers quarterback Christian Ponder was pondering a future without football when he got the call from San Francisco, Maiocco writes. “That crossed my mind,” said Ponder, 28, when asked if he thought he might not get another chance to play football. “My plan was to stay ready for this season anyway and see what happens. If nothing happened all year, it would be time to hang it up. I was going to give myself this season and see what happens.”
- 49ers rookie Joshua Garnett is playing “catch up” thanks to an NFL rule which prohibits rookies from joining their team’s offseason program until their school year has concluded, Baalke says (link via Maiocco). Stanford is on the quarters system and finishes later than most schools, so Garnett did not meet up with his teammates until the final minicamp in June. To aid his development, the 49ers will keep Garnett at left guard – his position at Stanford – instead of the right side as initially planned. Garnett also took a little extra time to sign his rookie deal as the two sides only finalized the contract in late July.
- On Wednesday, PFR’s Connor Byrne recapped the 49ers’ offseason and the next step of their rebuilding phase.
Impact Rookies: Atlanta Falcons
The old adage that defense wins championships may or may not be true, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a title-winning team that didn’t build heavily through the draft. Rookie classes, naturally, are evaluated on the perceived upside of the NFL newcomers, but which rookies are ready to contribute right out of the gate? And, how do they fit in with their new team schematically?
To help us forecast the immediate future of these NFL neophytes, we enlisted the help of draft guru Dave-Te Thomas who has served as a scouting personnel consultant to NFL teams for multiple decades.
First Round – Keanu Neal, S (Florida, No. 17 overall)
When the Falcons drafted Neal, they did so with the idea that he would start at strong safety from Day 1. That’s exactly how the Falcons are going to use the youngster just as soon as he rebounds from his “trunk” injury that has dogged him in recent weeks. 
Neal is a smooth, fluid mover who has done quite a nice job of making plays at the opposite side of the field, thanks to his burst, second gear, and ability to sift through traffic to get to the ball. He shows excellent ball reactionary skills, along with the quick decision-making process to close on the play with good urgency. He can change direction in an instant and does a nice job of maintaining position when challenged by lead blockers assisting vs. the ground game.
He has the nimble feet you would want in a free safety, along with the loose hips to recover quickly when a receiver gets behind him. He can turn and run with the speediest of receivers, as he is a savvy player who knows how to disrupt the route’s progression by using his hands to knock his coverage assignments off stride. He has the loose hips and sudden burst to close on the ball in a hurry and shows good body control in transition. Neal has excellent hand/eye coordination, along with the leaping ability to get fine elevation going up to get to the pass at its high point (team’s active interception leader). He is quick and fast, which allows him to keep plays in front of him and mirror even the swift flankers and split ends in deep secondary coverage.
While he is too valuable as a centerfielder to remove him from either safety position, he has the speed, range and mirroring ability to excel as a slot cornerback, as he is fluid and calm in one-on-one confrontations with split ends and flankers, along with showing the physicality to reroute tight ends and slot backs working in the short areas. Neal has the quickness, agility, and speed needed in the slot to more than handle any NFL No. 3 receiver. His play is reminiscent of Ryan Clark in terms of his ability to quickly locate the receiver and stay on the hip of his man throughout the route.
Neal came into this draft with experience at both safety positions, but thanks to the recent success that the Cardinals and Rams had in utilizing big safeties to play the Cover-2 linebacker role, Neal drew extra attention. Handling Cover-2 assignments at the next level will see Neal return to his roots as he was a second level defender during his days at South Sumter High School.
Continue reading about the Falcons’ rookies..
AFC East Notes: Bills, Taylor, Dareus, Dolphins
Tyrod Taylor‘s new deal with the Bills gives the player more money now while giving the Bills a great deal of flexibility later on, Mike Florio of PFT writes. The Bills have the option of retaining Taylor at payments below the franchise tag in 2017 and 2018 plus low base salaries in 2019, 2020, and 2021. If Taylor becomes a superstar, the Bills can retain him at a reasonable rate. If he regresses, then they can move on. That’s especially important since the Bills may have a totally different regime in place this time next year.
Here’s more out of the AFC East:
- Bills defensive lineman Marcell Dareus says it was a missed drug test that caused his four-game suspension, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com tweets. Of course, in the eyes of the NFL’s substance abuse policy, missing a drug test is the same as failing a drug test. Shortly after Dareus’ suspension was announced, we learned that his contract includes rare language which protects most of his guaranteed cash, despite the drug policy violation.
- With way the way Bills the do contracts, Stephon Gilmore should hold off on a new deal until he’s functionally the highest paid cornerback in the NFL, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap tweets. Talks had stalled between Buffalo and their star CB earlier this summer, but GM Doug Whaley says that Gilmore’s deal is once again the focus of the front office now that Taylor’s extension has been completed.
- The Dolphins haven’t been inclined to keep a third quarterback on the 53-man roster to start the season in recent years, but rookie seventh-round pick Brandon Doughty could break that trend, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. Doughty was 7-for-9 for 66 yards in the team’s preseason opener against the Giants. The Dolphins could try to sneak Doughty on the practice squad and use that roster spot for someone else, but they may not want to risk losing him to another team. For a full view of the Dolphins’ depth chart, head to Roster Resource.
- This week, the Jets were forced to place Bernard Pierce on IR, but they filled his spot with an intriguing name at running back.
- The Patriots are one of several teams eyeing veteran linebacker O’Brien Schofield.
Bills Focusing On Deal For Stephon Gilmore
Now that Tyrod Taylor‘s deal is out of the way, the Bills are now focusing on working out an extension with star cornerback Stephon Gilmore, GM Doug Whaley says (via Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com). The two sides were in talks earlier this offseason, but discussions broke off with a significant gap to bridge. 
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“It allows us to put all of our focus on Stephon Gilmore,” Whaley said. “It gives us a chance to say we have one piece of the puzzle done. Let’s try to get another piece of the puzzle done. Let’s not forget the fact that we have high profile players and they’re going to command top dollars. So we’re going to have to try our best to get them done. Will we get it done? We hope so, but it’s going to be process just like Tyrod’s contract.”
With the salary cap on the rise, Gilmore has a case to approach Josh Norman’s deal – especially given that he’s three years younger. Gilmore, who’s due $11.082MM in his fifth-year option season, reportedly wants a deal in that neighborhood (five years, $75MM) and there’s a pretty good case to be made for that. Still, the Bills are reluctant to go match those numbers as Norman is among the league’s top two corners in average annual value ($15MM, first), total guarantees ($50MM, first) and guaranteed money at signing ($36.5MM, second).
Last year, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked Gilmore as the No. 9 cornerback in the NFL among 111 qualifying corners. If the Bills and Gilmore aren’t able to reach an agreement between now and next March, the franchise tag could be in play. That would probably cost Buffalo upwards of $14MM.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NFL Suspends Giants K Josh Brown
7:58pm: Brown’s suspension is the result of a May 2015 arrest on a fourth-degree misdemeanor domestic violence charge, reports James Kratch of NJ.com. The arrest happened at a residence Brown and his wife share in Woodinville, Wa. Brown and the victim “quarrelled (sic),” according to the police report, with Brown grabbing the victim’s wrist while the victim was picking up a phone. After his arrest, Brown was booked into the county jail and released on $2K bond.
3:03pm: The NFL announced that Giants kicker Josh Brown has been suspended one game for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. In a statement, Brown says that he accepts the suspension, although he does not agree with it. The cause of the one-game ban is not immediately clear. 
Brown, 37, has racked up a total of 1,353 points over the course of his NFL career, with the Seahawks, Rams, Bengals, and Giants. His 134 points in 2015 represented a career high, and earned him his first Pro Bowl nod.
In April, Brown re-signed with the Giants on a two-year, $4MM deal, marking a significant raise over his previous contract. In 2014 and 2015, Brown was one of the league’s most accurate kickers, converting 24 of 26 field goals in 2014, and 30 of 32 field goals in 2015. He also made all but one of his extra point attempts, for a total of five overall misses in two years.
Assuming Brown continues to hold the Giants’ kicking job until his new contract expires, he has a good chance to become one of the NFL’s top 20 scorers of all time. He currently ranks 30th on the league’s all-time scoring list.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/17/16
Today’s minor moves:
- To make room for the newest member of their roster, Brock Vereen, the Chiefs released safety Akeem Davis (Twitter link via Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star).
- The Ravens signed cornerback Carrington Byndom and waived fellow corner Sam Brown, per Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com.
- The Browns waived offensive lineman Erle Ladson, tweets Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal.
- The Jaguars signed guard/center Jacques McClendon and waived wide receiver Rasheed Bailey, as Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com tweets. McClendon was with the Jaguars in 2013-14.
- The Colts signed free agent safety Alden Darby, as Colts PR man Christian Edwards tweets. They also removed running back Abou Toure from IR with an injury settlement, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
- The Giants signed defensive back Joe Powell, who attended Globe Institute of Technology in Manhattan, according to Jordan Raanan of ESPN (Twitter link). Powell will take the place of fellow DB Matt Smalley, who suffered a dislocated shoulder Monday.
- The Titans announced that they have signed wide receivers Jarrod West and Donte Foster. The team also waived/injured offensive lineman Josue Matias. Matias, a 2015 UDFA addition, spent last year on Tennessee’s practice squad and is facing a six-month recovery.
- The Lions waived wide receiver Alex Chisum and signed free agent offensive lineman Lemuel Jeanpierre, according to a team announcement.
- The NFL announced that Chiefs offensive tackle Zach Sterup has been suspended four games for violating the policy on performance-enhancing substances, as Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star tweets.
The Beat: Terry McCormick On The Titans
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 Titans with Terry McCormick of the TitanInsider.com. You can follow Terry on Twitter @terrymc13.
Zach Links: After a strange year with the Eagles, do you think DeMarco Murray is poised to be an elite running back once again? 
Terry McCormick: I don’t think he’ll get to the 1,800 yards that he got with the Cowboys two years ago because you have Derrick Henry in the mix, but I do think he’ll be an effective running back for the Titans, much more so than he was with the Eagles. He’ll be in a run based offense and will get plenty of opportunities to carry the football and that was evident from outset in the preseason game. The Titans want to run the football and want to run it often and he’ll be the lead back in that. He won’t put up numbers like he did in Dallas, but his numbers will rebound nicely. I’d look for him to finish the year with something between 1,100 and 1,400 yards.
Zach Links: The Titans signed Andre Johnson late last month. What can he bring to the table at this point in his career?
Terry McCormick: It’s obvious he’s not the Andre Johnson that he was five or six years ago with the Texans, but the trade of Dorial Green-Beckham opens up a spot for him on the roster. He brings not only veteran leadership to the table, but also brings what coach Mike Mularkey wants from his receivers: guys that will run the correct route and get there on time and catch the football. Part of the problem with [Green-Beckham] was that he was too inconsistent. Despite his vast physical skills, you couldn’t always rely on him to do those things. Johnson is a veteran presence and I could see him being the fourth receiver on the team. He definitely looks like he’ll make the roster.
Zach Links: What did you make of the Green-Beckham trade? Did you think the Titans should have tried to get more for him?
Continue reading about the Titans..
NFC East Notes: Bradford, DGB, Eagles
The Eagles showed desperation in taking a chance on wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham and that desperation shows that Sam Bradford was right to want out this offseason, Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. After giving up three net draft picks, including their 2017 first-rounder, to get Carson Wentz, the Eagles have been forced to roll the dice on some players in order to bring up the talent level. This offseason, the Eagles have brought in a number of red flag players including Wendell Smallwood, Alex McCalister, Jalen Mills, Nigel Bradham, and Green-Beckham.
Here’s more from the NFC East:
- In the chatter over the Eagles‘ acquisition of Green-Beckham, few have talked about the departure of Dennis Kelly, Eliot Schor-Parks of NJ.com writes. Kelly wasn’t exactly been a Pro Bowler with the Eagles, but he did serve a serviceable backup who could be relied on if an injury popped up on the offensive line. Kelly might not have the ceiling that DGB does, but Schor-Parks argues that his floor is much higher. By the same token, DGB might have the most raw talent of any Philly receiver.
- In predicting the Redskins‘ linebackers on the 53-man roster, Mike Jones of the Washington Post cautions not to be surprised if the team’s tenth and final linebacker is on another team’s roster at this time.
- Tackle Will Beatty is on the radar of four NFL teams, but a reunion with the Giants remains unlikely.
- The Cowboys once again made it clear that they will not consider re-signing Greg Hardy.
Police Still Investigating Aqib Talib Incident
Police are still investigating the June shooting involving Aqib Talib, as Colleen O’Connor of The Denver Post writes. As the Dallas PD looks into the incident, they are also not ruling out the possibility that the cornerback actually shot himself in the leg. 
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The details of the incident could have major legal implications for the 30-year-old. Of course, if Talib fired the gun himself, he could also be facing punishment from a league office that does not look too kindly on firearm mishaps. It’s also not clear if the cornerback is licensed to carry in the state of Texas.
Talib told police he was at a Dallas park about 3:40 a.m. on June 5 when he was shot, but was “too intoxicated” to remember how he was shot. Meanwhile, there is some reason to believe that Talib was not actually shot at the park but was instead shot outside of a nightclub.
Talib has earned Pro Bowl nods in each of the last three seasons. In 2015, Talib recorded 45 tackles, 13 pass deflections, three interceptions, and two defensive touchdowns in 15 regular season games. The veteran’s performance helped propel the Broncos to a Super Bowl win to cap the year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.