Latest On Breshad Perriman
An evaluation by Dr. James Andrews has revealed that Ravens wide receiver Breshad Perriman may not have significant ACL tear, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter links). Perriman will undergo arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday to determine if reconstruction surgery is necessary and Schefter hears there is “absolutely” a chance that he could return for the 2016 season. More will be known about his timetable for recovery after tomorrow’s procedure. 
[RELATED: Ravens Kicker Justin Tucker Confident About Extension]
We recently heard the wideout was working his way back to 100% from his lingering PCL issue. Now, Perriman is facing yet another setback that could potentially push his NFL debut to 2017. Perriman impressed at the combine with his speed as he ran a 4.26 second 40-yard dash. Evaluators last year believed that Perriman’s NFL future was bright and that could still be the case, but another lost season would certainly put his prospects in flux.
As for the Ravens, Steve Smith backtracked on his retirement intentions following his own season-ending injury last year, and Kamar Aiken represented a pleasant surprise for the team. The Ravens signed Mike Wallace as well, so for 2016, they’re less exposed at the position than they were when Perriman’s rookie season vanished due to knee troubles.
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Stephen Tulloch Excused From Lions Camp
Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch was excused from mandatory minicamp, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). His impending release should come in the next few weeks, Rapoport adds. 
[RELATED: Lions Sign Andre Roberts]
Back in February, the Lions reportedly informed the veteran that he would be cut loose this offseason. However, for the last few months, he has been in a strange limbo with the team. The Lions have repeatedly declined to comment on Tulloch’s status even though the football world has been anticipating his release.
“What a journey it’s been Detroit!,” Tulloch wrote on Instagram roughly four months ago. “Five years of some of the greatest memories of my career. I can’t put into words how grateful I am to have played for such a great organization. I want thank the Ford family, the front office, the strength coaches, trainers, equipment staff, and everybody in between for everything you have done for me over the years. Last but not least I want to thank the community of Detroit for being behind me and my foundation over the years in making a difference in many lives. Such as life there is constant change. But change that I’m looking forward to. As one chapter closes in my career another one opens up.”
Tulloch, 31, has spent the last five years with the Lions. He has played in all 16 regular games of each season except for in 2014. In a September contest against the Packers, Tulloch tore his ACL while celebrating a sack, ending his season prematurely. In 2015, he restored his ironman cred by playing in 16 games, racking up 108 total tackles, 1 sack, and 2 fumble recoveries.
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Reshad Jones To Holdout Through Minicamp
Dolphins safety Reshad Jones‘ holdout is expected to continue through minicamp, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Jones, who skipped all of the team’s OTAs, will face fines if he follows through with his minicamp boycott. The news doesn’t come as a huge surprise after word leaked out that Jones is mulling a hold out for the entire 2016 season. If Jones takes his holdout into the regular season, he’ll lose roughly $400K per game. 
[RELATED: Latest On Dolphins, Arian Foster]
Jones set new career-highs in tackles (135), passes defended (10), and interceptions (five) last season. PFF ranked Jones as the 13th-best safety in the NFL in 2015, and of the 89 qualified safeties, only two received higher grades as run defenders than Jones did. Still, one has to wonder if Jones is overplaying his hand with Miami.
Jones has two years remaining on his deal and stands as either the league’s highest paid or second highest-paid strong safety, depending on how you classify Chiefs star Eric Berry. Generally speaking, strong safeties are not paid as highly as their counterparts in the secondary. Jones, who earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2015, is on the books for base salaries of $7.225MM in 2016 and $7.06MM in 2017, with accompanying cap hits of $8.203MM and $8.038MM, respectively.
Last year, Kam Chancellor was in a contract standoff with the Seahawks before finally reporting to the team during Week Three. Chancellor‘s holdout cost him $1.1MM in fines, $500K in signing-bonus forfeiture, and about $534K in lost salary for a total of about $2.134MM in potential lost earnings.
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Lions Sign Andre Roberts
The Lions have agreed to sign wide receiver Andre Roberts, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Terms of the deal are not yet known. 
[RELATED: Anquan Boldin Visiting Lions]
The 28-year-old visited the Lions and Saints in the past week, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. He also visited the Bills last month, though his other stops did not result in any deals. The Lions, Caplan tweets, see Roberts as a player with the ability to play both slot and outside in their offense. He’s also capable of returning punts and kicks. The Lions are looking to build depth at wide receiver after Corey Fuller suffered a broken foot.
Roberts has been on the open market ever since he was released by the Redskins back in May. The wide receiver arrived in Washington when he inked four-year, $16MM contract with Washington in 2014 with the expectation that he would serve as the team’s No. 2 receiver next to Pierre Garcon. Soon after, however, DeSean Jackson unexpectedly became available and Washington swooped in to make him a focal point of their offense. Upon being relegated to the No. 3 WR role, Roberts expressed frustration, but his slide did not stop there.
Last season, Roberts appeared in 9 games (zero starts) and caught a career-low 11 passes for 135 yards. Roberts first made a name for himself in 2012 when he stepped out of Larry Fitzgerald‘s shadow in Arizona to haul in 64 catches for 759 yards and five touchdowns. In every year since, he has seen his targets, receptions, and yards decline.
Interestingly, news of a deal between the Lions and Roberts comes on the heels of Anquan Boldin visiting the team. It’s not immediately clear whether Boldin still fits into the equation for Detroit. If so, there could be a notable name or two displaced.
Recently, PFR’s own Dallas Robinson identified the Lions as a possible fit for Roberts.
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Anquan Boldin Visiting Lions
The Lions are hosting Anquan Boldin on a visit today, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Boldin has history with Lions head coach Jim Caldwell thanks to their time together in Baltimore. 
[RELATED: Lions Notes: Orlovsky, Washington, Carter]
Boldin, 35, has reportedly been working out in South Florida and staying in shape as he waits for the right opportunity. Even though he has enjoyed a long career and even has a Super Bowl ring, the veteran has said that he is not thinking about retirement right now. Last season, Boldin recorded only 69 catches for 789 yards and four touchdowns, so he’s probably looking to go out with a stronger campaign. Boldin’s struggles, in large part, can be attributed to the turmoil surrounding the 49ers and their difficulties at quarterback last year.
The Lions already have eleven wide receivers under contract, though Boldin could easily supplant some of the team’s current options there. Behind Golden Tate, Marvin Jones, T.J. Jones, and Jeremy Kerley, Andre Caldwell seems pretty likely to make the team’s final cut. Other than him, the likes of Corey Fuller and Jace Billingsley figure to be on the bubble.
After joining the 49ers in 2013, Boldin posted consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, with 12 total touchdowns in ’13 and ’14. Over the course of his career, Boldin has made three Pro Bowls while racking up 13,195 yards off of 1,009 catches with 74 touchdowns.
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Ravens’ Tucker Confident About Extension
Earlier this offseason, the Ravens used the franchise tag on kicker Justin Tucker and he quickly accepted. Months later, Tucker still doesn’t have a long-term deal in place with the team. However, he says it’s only a matter of time before a new pact is hammered out. 
[RELATED: Breshad Perriman Partially Tears ACL]
“As of right now, there hasn’t been a whole lot happening, but there’s still time. Like I’ve said before, I’m optimistic that something will get done. It’s a matter of when, not if,” Tucker said (via Jake Lourim of The Baltimore Sun). “I know there’s a lot of things to juggle from their perspective, so all I can do is just be patient and let the process unfold how it’s going to unfold,” he said. “There’s no sense in complaining about it. I’m definitely in a very fortunate position, and I just hope that I can take this one year and turn it into four or five, or perhaps even more.”
Tucker, 26, is entering his fifth season with the Ravens. For his career, Tucker has connected on 130 of 148 field-goal attempts (87.8%), with 12 of those 18 overall misses coming from 50 yards or longer. He has also nailed an impressive 10 game-winning field goals, including three in 2015.
Although signing the franchise tender secures Tucker for the 2016 season, he and the Ravens could still reach a longer-term agreement anytime between now and July 15th. A year ago, we saw the Patriots use their franchise tag on Stephen Gostkowski, who signed the tender days later, then agreed to a multiyear contract on July 15th. The long-term extension reduced Gostkowski’s present-day cap hit while giving him a more significant guarantee up front. I’d expect the Ravens to explore a similar scenario for Tucker, who may be looking to exceed Gostkowski’s four-year, $17.2MM deal.
If no new deal is reached, Tucker will play out the 2016 season on a one-year, $4.572MM contract.
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Latest On 49ers OL Anthony Davis
Once again, Anthony Davis is causing a stir on Twitter. Over the weekend, a fan urged the former 49ers offensive lineman to return to football so that he could purchase his jersey. In a since deleted tweet (screenshot via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com), Davis said that he “will play ball,” though he says the Niners won’t be selling his jersey anytime soon. 
[RELATED: Colin Kaepernick On 49ers’ Offense, Kelly, Baalke, Health]
Prior to the draft in April, Davis tweeted [sic], “The 49ers should Draft an Offensive Tackle in the top 10. #NFLDraft2016.” After that, he took an even more direct shot at the 49ers by writing, “I do not want to work with a front office or anyone else who seemingly doesn’t want to win as bad as I do.”
At different points over the last year, Davis has hinted that he wants to return to football. However, it’s clear that he doesn’t want to make his return with San Francisco. If he does decide to come back to the NFL, of course, the 49ers will still hold his rights.
Davis, 26, was the 49ers’ first-round pick in 2010, coming off the board No. 11 overall. Prior to his retirement, he started 71 games at right tackle for SF, playing all 16 regular season contests in his first four years before being limited to seven games in 2014. Davis dealt with hamstring and knee issues, and also battled concussion problems, which may have contributed to his decision to step away from the game temporarily in 2015.
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AFC South Notes: Hurns, Jaguars, Luck, Colts
Allen Hurns did well for himself on his newly-signed extension with the Jaguars, Bryce Johnston of Over The Cap writes. Hurns gave up only three years of free agency but he secured more new guaranteed cash than Jordan Reed or Harrison Smith who gave up five. Locking up Hurns required a four-year, $40MM+ pact with ~$20MM in guarantees, but as Johnston notes, the Jags did not give up their financial flexibility. Going forward, the Jaguars should have enough room to take care of their other young talents.
Here’s more from the AFC South:
- Free agent pickup Prince Amukamara is making a smooth transition with the Jaguars, Hays Carlyon of The Florida Times-Union writes. The cornerback, who turned 27 on Monday, offers a skill set that is a good fit for Gus Bradley’s defense. “One thing I really like about him is he can play bump and run,” Jaguars defensive backs coach DeWayne Walker said. “That’s something that’s standing out already. He’s going to have to continue to learn the rest of the defense and just get comfortable with our style. The bump and run part of it is real good so far. That was something I was very attracted to watching on tape when he was being evaluated, and it’s carried over.” The former Giant signed on a one-year deal in March that gives him $3MM guaranteed with the potential of reaching $5.5MM.
- Colts QB Andrew Luck is in no-win situation when it comes to contract talks, Gregg Doyel of the Indy Star opines. The two sides are reportedly making serious progress on an extension that could be completed by July 4th.
- Where will former Texans RB Arian Foster wind up? We ran down eight teams that could make sense for the veteran.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/10/16
Today’s minor moves:
- The Lions have waived wide receiver Corey Washington with an injury designation, reports ESPN’s Michael Rothstein. Washington, who caught five passes with the Giants in 2014, spent last season on the Lions’ practice squad.
- The Patriots have waived/injured tight end Michael Williams, according to Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link). Williams, who suffered a torn ACL on Wednesday, will revert to IR if he clears waivers.
- The Chiefs (Twitter link) announced that they have signed defensive back Bryce Cheek and waived safety Peni Vea.
- The Cowboys announced that they have waived cornerback Terrance Mitchell, who had one of their two interceptions by cornerbacks last season. The move is slightly surprising because Jason Garrett spoke highly of Mitchell earlier in the offseason, ESPN.com’s Todd Archer observes (Twitter link).
- The Cowboys also waived cornerback Brandon McGee with an injury designation.
Bengals Sign William Jackson III
The Bengals announced that they have formally signed first-round pick William Jackson III. With the cornerback officially under contract, the Bengals have now signed every player in their 2016 draft class. 
Jackson, a University of Houston product, turned heads with a 4.37 second 40-yard-dash time at the NFL combine. Over the last two years at UH, Jackson allowed just 40% of passes thrown his way to be completed. The cornerback was reportedly at the center of what could have been a rare trade between the Jets and Giants on draft day. The Jets are said to have offered their No. 20 overall pick and second-rounders to the Giants to get the No. 10. The Jets had their sights set on Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil while the Giants would have targeted Jackson at No. 20. However, the Giants were zeroed in on Ohio State star Eli Apple and didn’t want to pass up the chance to draft him.
Here is a full recap of the Bengals’ 2016 draft class:
- 1-24: William Jackson III, CB (Houston)
- 2-55: Tyler Boyd, WR (Pittsburgh):
- 3-87: Nick Vigil, LB (Utah State)
- 4-122: Andrew Billings, DT (Baylor)
- 5-161: Christian Westerman, OL (Arizona State)
- 6-199: Cody Core, WR (Ole Miss)
- 7-245: Clayton Fejedelem, S (Illinois)
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