Cardinals’ Chandler Jones Done For Year
Cardinals linebacker Chandler Jones is done for the year, according to head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Jones was hoping to avoid it, but he’s now set to undergo season-ending biceps surgery. 
Jones, 30, managed 19 sacks in 2019 and led the league with eight forced fumbles. A first-round pick of the Patriots back in 2012, Jones hasn’t missed a game since joining the Cardinals in 2016. Before the injury, Jones started a perfect 69 games in a row. That streak is now over — ditto for his run of four straight seasons with at least eleven sacks.
Arizona is above .500 and in the thick of the NFC playoff hunt, but two of their three wins have come against the likes of the Washington Football Team and the Jets. They’ve looked bad in their two losses to the Lions and Panthers, and reserves like Jordan Phillips won’t be able to replace Jones’ production.
Jones was hoping to start extension talks with the Cardinals sometime soon, but those discussions will be tabled for a while. The veteran, 31 in February, is under contract for 2021 with a $15.5MM base salary.
The Cardinals – sans Jones – will face the Cowboys on Monday night.
Jets Release Le’Veon Bell
The Jets announced that they will release Le’Veon Bell from his contract on Tuesday night. The release is now official, and the former All-Pro running back is free to sign with any team. 
“After having conversations with Le’Veon and his agent and exploring potential trade options over the past couple of days, we have made the decision to release Le’Veon,” the team said in a Tuesday night statement. “The Jets organization appreciates Le’Veon’s efforts during his time here and we know he worked hard to make significant contributions to this team. We believe this decision is in the best interests of both parties and wish him future success.”
The Jets signed Bell to a four-year, $52.5MM free agent deal in the 2019 offseason. A few months later, they fired GM Mike Maccagnan. Then, before the trade deadline in October, new GM Joe Douglas attempted to trade him. There were no viable deals then, and there were no takers this time around. The Jets were willing to eat some of the $6MM left on this year’s base salary, but teams were warded off by Bell’s $8MM injury guarantee, plus a number of other red flags.
Last year, Bell averaged a career-low 3.2 yards per carry. Gase and Bell butted heads throughout the season, which saw the multiple-time Pro Bowler put up the worst numbers of his career. Bell ran for just 789 yards and three touchdowns on 229 carries – that comes out to just 3.3 yards per tote, a sharp contrast from his best work in Pittsburgh, which included back-to-back 4.9-yard averages. His 66 catches for 461 yards and one score weren’t too shabby, but that’s still a notch or two below expectations. With the Steelers, Bell averaged 8.5 yards per reception and averaged 80 grabs in each of his final two seasons with his former team. Soon, Bell will have an opportunity to start fresh with his third pro team.
Jets Looking To Trade Le’Veon Bell
Here we go again. With a couple weeks to go before the trade deadline, the Jets are shopping running back Le’Veon Bell, sources tell Manish Mehta of the Daily News (on Twitter). 
[RELATED: Could Jets Trade Sam Darnold?]
The Jets signed Bell to a four-year, $52.5MM free agent deal in 2019. Months later, they considered moving him. Bell claims the Packers, Chiefs, Texans, and Steelers (yes, the Steelers) all expressed interest in acquiring him before last year’s deadline but, ultimately, there were no takers.
It’s hard to imagine teams chomping at the bit for Bell. Last year, he averaged a career-low 3.2 yards per carry. So far this year, he’s played in just two of the Jets’ five games. For what it’s worth, he managed 4.62 yards per carry this past Sunday, but he’s come nowhere near matching his performance in Pittsburgh since joining Gang Green.
Between his two disappointing Jets campaigns and his 2018 holdout, Bell is three seasons removed from his best work. Meanwhile, he continues to clash with team brass. This week, he dished out social media likes to a number of followers who were criticizing Adam Gase for his limited usage of Bell.
“I know he’s frustrated that we haven’t won,” the head coach told reporters on Monday. “It wasn’t necessarily the plan of not targeting him in the past game, it just kind of ended up being that way with how they were they were playing us. So that’s what it is, I mean, just try to find ways to move the football that’s all we’re trying to do, and it doesn’t always go exactly as planned..I hate that’s the route that we go with all this. Instead of just talking to me about it but seems the way that guys want to do it nowadays.”
Bell will earn a guaranteed $8.5MM base salary for 2020. In the past, he’s rebuffed the Jets’ attempts to restructure his deal. But, if he truly wants a trade, he may have to reconsider his position.
Buccaneers Place Vita Vea and Jack Cichy On IR
On Tuesday, the Buccaneers officially placed defensive tackle Vita Vea on injured reserve. The former first-round pick will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a broken leg against the Bears. 
[RELATED: Bucs Contacted Snacks After Vea Injury]
Vea started in all 16 of the Bucs’ games last year and all five of this year’s contests. Thanks in part to Vea, the Bucs have boasted one of the league’s best run defenses. Playing at the nose tackle spot, he managed two sacks this season to bring his career total to 7.5. One of those sacks came on Thursday night, prior to the season-ending injury.
The injury is unfortunate for obvious reasons, but also for contractual reasons. Vea will be extension-eligible after the 2020 season — he’ll also be light on leverage. The Bucs will probably let things play out, since they have Vea under contract in 2021 at a cap figure of $4.7MM. Meanwhile, Will Gholston and Rakeem Nunez-Roaches will likely take on larger roles up front.
Vea will be joined on IR by linebacker Jack Cichy, who suffered a hamstring injury. Fortunately, that injury doesn’t look like a season-ender and he’ll be eligible to return in as little as three weeks.
No New COVID-19 Positives For Titans
Tonight’s Titans-Bills game will go on as (re-)scheduled. Monday’s round of COVID-19 testing yielded no new positives, clearing the way for their Tuesday Night Football matchup. Ditto for the Chiefs and Patriots (Twitter links via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero).
Over the weekend, one Titans staffer tested positive for the coronavirus, though that person had not been at the team facility for roughly two weeks. Since the staffer has not been in contact with other players, coaches, or executives, the Titans still had the green light to play, pending Monday’s test results. The Titans also got some more good news on Tuesday morning – wide receiver A.J. Brown is good to go after healing up from his bone bruise, per Paul Kuharsky (on Twitter).
The Patriots were asked to nix in-person activities after their flare-up, but they should be able to get back to the practice field on Wednesday. There’s no official word yet, but there’s hope that the Patriots will be able to face the Broncos on Sunday. The two teams were originally scheduled to play last Sunday, then slated for Monday night, before being bumped to Week 6.
Jaguars Sign Jabaal Sheard
The Jaguars have added Jabaal Sheard to their practice squad, per a club announcement. Sheard will be at the ready for a Jaguars’ edge unit lacking in experience and lagging in production as of late. 
[RELATED: Jaguars Release K Stephen Hauschka, Promote K Jon Brown]
Sheard has 103 starts and 51.5 sacks for his career, including a recent three-year stint with the Colts. The Colts let him walk this offseason, and he didn’t generate a ton of buzz once he hit the open market. He wasn’t a world-beater in 2019, but he did grade as one of the better run defenders among edge players, per Pro Football Focus, during his first two seasons with Indy.
Despite having recent first-round picks Josh Allen and K’Lavon Chaisson in the lineup, the Jags have just five sacks through five games. On Sunday, the front seven managed to put some pressure on Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the team’s offensive shortcomings. Now 1-4, the Jaguars will look to stop their four-game slide against the Lions on Sunday.
Dolphins’ Davon Godchaux Done For Year?
Dolphins defensive tackle Davon Godchaux suffered a biceps injury that could end his season, sources tell Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). The former fifth-round pick will go for a second opinion, but it sounds like he’ll be out for an extended stretch, at the minimum. 
[RELATED: Dolphins Place LT Austin Jackson On IR]
Godchaux underwent surgery to repair the injury. The Dolphins placed the starting defender on IR, but Godchaux has not thrown in the towel on returning this season, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald tweets.
Godchaux has been a full-time starter in Miami the last few years and he was gunning for a pay bump in his contract year. The run-stuffing nose tackle — making $2.1MM in 2020 — had 16 tackles, one tackle for a loss, and two QB hits through five games this season.
Last year, Godchaux made more stops within two yards of the line than any other defensive tackle in the NFL. He also turned in a career high of 75 tackles and a new watermark of seven pressures, plus three sacks from the interior. The Dolphins were high on him coming into this year, as shown by their lack of serious interest in top defensive tackles like D.J. Reader.
The Dolphins advanced to 2-3 after their 43-17 drumming of the 49ers. On Sunday, they’re set to face the Broncos in Denver as they try to close the gap with the division-leading Bills.
2021 NFL Draft Order
With most of Week 5 in the books, we bring you a way-too-early look at the current order for the 2021 NFL draft. For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2020 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. After that, the same goes for the six clubs eliminated from each round of the postseason, with the final two picks determined by the outcome of the Super Bowl.
Here’s where things stand in the race to the bottom:
- New York Giants (0-5)
- Atlanta Falcons (0-5)
- New York Jets (0-5)
- Washington Football Team (1-4)
- Minnesota Vikings (1-4)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4)
- Miami Dolphins (via Houston Texans, 1-4)
- Los Angeles Chargers (1-3)
- Detroit Lions (1-3)
- Denver Broncos (1-3)
- Philadelphia Eagles (1-3-1)
- Cincinnati Bengals (1-3-1)
- Miami Dolphins (2-3)
- San Francisco 49ers (2-3)
- New Orleans Saints (2-2)
- New England Patriots (2-2)
- Arizona Cardinals (3-2)
- Indianapolis Colts (3-2)
- Dallas Cowboys (2-3)
- Carolina Panthers (3-2)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2)
- Las Vegas Raiders (3-2)
- Kansas City Chiefs (4-1)
- Cleveland Browns (4-1)
- Chicago Bears (4-1)
- Baltimore Ravens (4-1)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (via Los Angeles Rams, 4-1)
- Tennessee Titans (3-0)
- Green Bay Packers (4-0)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (4-0)
- Buffalo Bills (4-0)
- New York Jets (via Seattle Seahawks, 4-0)
Cowboys’ Trysten Hill Done For Year
Cowboys defensive tackle Trysten Hill is done for the year after tearing the ACL in his right knee against the Giants (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). He’ll undergo an MRI on Tuesday morning to confirm, but the diagnosis was immediately clear to team doctors. 
The hits just keep on coming in Dallas as Hill is the tenth starter to land on injured reserve in 2020. They were counting on the 2019 second-round pick, who seemed to be on the right track after a rocky rookie year. In 2019, Hill was sent home after arriving late to a practice and he even fell asleep in the middle of a speech by Basketball Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas.
Hill was first-string for all five of the Cowboys’ games this season, including Sunday’s 37-34 win over the rival Giants. His sophomore season will end with eleven total tackles, including one TFL. Antwaun Woods and third-round rookie Neville Gallimore are on hand to partner with Dontari Poe up front, but the Cowboys will need some reinforcements. Justin Hamilton — who previously suited up for the Chiefs and Eagles — may be called up from the taxi squad.
Browns Place Greedy Williams On IR
Browns cornerback Greedy Williams will be placed on injured reserve, per a club announcement. While he won’t require surgery, head coach Kevin Stefanski says he’ll need additional time to heal up from a nerve issue in his shoulder. 
[RELATED: Browns Place Nick Chubb On IR]
Williams was absent from the Browns’ first five games. Now that he’s on IR, he’ll miss at least another three. In a best case scenario, Williams will be eligible to return for the Browns’ Nov. 15 game against the Texans.
Williams, a 2019 second-round pick, registered 47 stops as a rookie. The LSU product missed a quarter the season due to hamstring issues and he once again finds himself sidelined. At best, Williams will finish his second pro season with just 20 regular season games played in total.
On the plus side, the Browns beat the Colts on Sunday with Terrence Mitchell, Denzel Ward, and Kevin Johnson as their top trio of cornerbacks. With that, they advanced to 3-1 on the season, though they’ll have to push for separation in the sardine-packed AFC North. Next up, a pivotal matchup against the 4-0 Steelers.