NFL Workout Updates: 12/28/17
Here is today’s workout news from around the NFL:
Baltimore Ravens
- CB’s Jonathon Mincy, Loucheiz Purifoy (via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com)
Ravens Work Out WR Jeremy Kerley
With starting wide receiver Jeremy Maclin‘s status for this Sunday’s game uncertain, the Ravens worked out veteran free agent wideout Jeremy Kerley on Tuesday, a source tells Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The team did promote wide receiver Quincy Adeboyejo from their practice squad today, so this workout could merely just be the Ravens seeing all available options.
Kerely, 29, has had a few productive seasons since being drafted by the Jets in the fifth round back in 2011. He played for New York for five years before agreeing to join the 49ers for their 2016 campaign. He was then released this offseason, resurfacing with the Jets before being cut by the team last week. Kerley had previously been activated from a four-game suspension by Gang Green for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Running back Alex Collins has been the main weapon on this offense, but wideouts Mike Wallace and Chris Moore have quietly been asserting themselves more and more in recent weeks. Should Maclin not go because of the knee injury he suffered in Week 16, the Ravens now have five other receivers in Wallace, Moore, Adeboyejo, Michael Campanaro and Breshad Perriman to get snaps in his place. Although, adding a veteran receiver like Kerley would bring much needed depth and experience to the unit.
Ravens CB Jaylen Hill Tears ACL and MCL
The Ravens will go into a critical Week 17 matchup against the Bengals without one of their cornerbacks. Head coach John Harbaugh revealed that undrafted rookie defensive back Jaylen Hill has torn both his ACL and MCL and will be out for the remainder of the season, reports Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com.
Hill, 23, made the Ravens roster coming out of training camp, but had been dealing with injuries for a majority of the season. However, he had been active the last three weeks as he was becoming a key special teams player for the team.
Without Hill, Baltimore will bring an extra corner to either the 53 man roster or the practice squad, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). Harbaugh told Zrebiec that practice squad cornerback Robertson Daniel is “ready to play”, so he seems like a potential option to be promoted for this Sunday’s game.
The Ravens have already lost corners Jimmy Smith, Tavon Young and Brandon Boykin to injury at different points this year. The team has been relying on veteran Brandon Carr and rookie first-round pick Marlon Humphrey to start on the outside since Smith went down with an achilles injury in Week 13. The Ravens have the likes of Maurice Canady, Lardarius Webb and Anthony Levine to take snaps at the extra cornerback positions as well.
With a win this weekend, Baltimore will clinch their first playoff appearance since the 2014-15 season.
Notable 2018 Pro Bowl Incentives/Escalators
The NFL announced the 2018 Pro Bowl rosters earlier tonight, and aside from determining which players will spend a week in Orlando early next year, the rosters also dictate several important bonuses and/or contract escalators for individual players. Former NFL agent and current CBSSports.com contributor Joel Corry has rounded up the notable incentives earned tonight, and we’ll pass those along below. As Corry notes (Twitter link), only first ballot Pro Bowlers who actually participate in the game (unless injured or playing in the Super Bowl) are in bonuses, which are typically paid out by the end of March.
Here are the notable Pro Bowl bonuses and escalators that were preliminarily netted this evening (all links to Corry’s Twitter):
Bonuses
- Ravens S Eric Weddle, $1MM; requires Baltimore in playoffs (link): Still playing like one of the league’s best coverage safeties at the age of 32, Weddle needs the Ravens to land one of the AFC Wild Card slots in order to earn his incentive. Baltimore appears to on course to do just that, as FiveThirtyEight gives the club an 87% of earning a postseason berth. That playoff appearance will be largely due to the Ravens’ defense, which ranks second only to Jacksonville in DVOA.
- Bills S Micah Hyde, $400K (link): Sean McDermott can coach defensive backs. After spending years finding gems at safety for the Eagles and Panthers, the Bills head coach has helped Hyde transform into a top-notch DB. Hyde, who inked a five-year, $30.5MM contract with Buffalo in the spring, ranked a respectable 53rd in Pro Football Focus‘ safety grades a year ago. This season? He’s ninth.
- Raiders G Kelechi Osemele, $300K (link): Under general manager Reggie McKenzie, the Raiders have employed what is often referred to as an “all cash” salary cap management system, wherein prorated signing bonuses are rarely used while base salary guarantees, roster bonuses, and — as evidenced by the number of Oakland players on this list — incentive clauses are heavily employed. Osemele, the league’s highest-paid interior offensive lineman, is signed through 2020 with cap charges north of $10MM in each season.
- Rams K Greg Zuerlein, $250K (link): While the Los Angeles offense garners the most headlines, the club’s special teams unit has maintained its dominance under coordinator John Fassel, who briefly took over as the Rams’ interim head coach in 2016. Fassel, Zuerlein, & Co. have managed a No. 2 ranking in special teams DVOA, while Zuerlein himself has been worth 15.1 points of field position (second in the NFL).
- Raiders T Donald Penn, $200K (link): Penn’s summer holdout lead to extra guarantees in the future, but didn’t end with a change to his 2017 salary, meaning this bonus part of his original deal. The 34-year-old Penn is currently on injured reserve, and will miss his first game since 2007 on Sunday. Still, his renegotiated contract now contains a $3MM guarantee for 2018, meaning he’s likely part of the Raiders’ plans.
- Patriots ST Matthew Slater, $150K (link): Slater has now earned a Pro Bowl berth in every season since 2011. At some point, it’s fair to wonder if Slater is skating by on reputation, as he played only a quarter of the Patriots’ special teams snaps this year. Slater missed more special teams tackles than he made prior to his 2016 berth, tweets Mike Renner of Pro Football Focus.
- Raiders C Rodney Hudson, $100K (link): For all of Oakland’s problems this season, the Raiders have continued to boast some of the NFL’s best pass-blocking offensive lineman. Hudson is the best pass-blocking center in the league by a wide margin, meaning he’s eminently affordable at $8.9MM annually.
Escalators
- Lions CB Darius Slay, $550K base salary increase in 2018 (link): As Corry reports, Slay had three ways to earn this heft escalator — post five or more interceptions (he sits at seven), play on 80% or more of Detroit’s defensive snaps (he’s at 97.6%), or earn a Pro Bowl berth. Slay managed all three in what has become the best season of an increasingly impressive five-year career.
- Eagles T Lane Johnson, $250K base salary increase each season from 2018-21 (link): Depending on Jason Peters‘ health and the Eagles’ plans, Johnson could very well be playing left tackle as soon as 2018. Even with his base salary set to increase, Johnson won’t have a cap charge north of $13.5MM over the life of his contract.
- Eagles G Brandon Brooks, $250K base salary increase each season from 2018-20 (link): General manager Howie Roseman zeroed in on Brooks at the outset of the 2016 free agent period, and the 28-year-old has quickly proved to be one of the best free agent signings in recent memory. Brooks will earn an $8.5MM base salary — the largest during his five-year deal — in 2018.
- Eagles TE Zach Ertz, $250K base salary increase from 2019-21 (link): Per Corry, Ertz also picked up a $100K bonus for 2017. Ertz has already set a career-high in touchdowns (eight) and has a shot to set new marks in receptions and yards even though he missed two games with injury. A former second-round pick, Ertz ranks among the top-five tight ends in catches, yards, and scores.
RG3 Turned Down Cardinals, Ravens Offers
Apparently, Robert Griffin III turned down two separate NFL offers in 2017. In an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter, Griffin said that he rejected chances to join both the Cardinals and Ravens in the offseason. 
“In Arizona, the reason it wasn’t a good fit because they had already — Carson [Palmer] was there, I was willing to come in and learn behind an experienced veteran quarterback who’s done a lot of great things,” Griffin said (transcript via CBSSports.com). “They had the backup in [Drew] Stanton, they had also brought in Blaine Gabbert. Nobody lets four quarterbacks get practice time. That was the issue. It wasn’t the coach — [Bruce Arians] is a great coach, he’s a quarterback whisperer. And it’s a stable franchise.”
Griffin also explained why he passed on an opportunity to join the Ravens.
“Baltimore was just, they offered me a contract right before the first preseason game, to start against the Redskins,” RG3 said. “Selfishly I could have taken that, to go play against them, but I knew I wouldn’t have been ready with that offense, with those guys, to put my best foot forward.”
In each instance, Griffin said that he knew the risk – if he turned down the offer, he might not get another. Surprisingly, Griffin says that he hasn’t given up on the possibility that a playoff team could sign him this year. That seems pretty unlikely to us, however, particularly since the Eagles have shown no interest in signing a Carson Wentz replacement.
RG3 Claims He Nearly Signed With Ravens
Robert Griffin III wasn’t able to land an NFL contract this year, but he says he was close. In an appearance on ESPN, RG3 said that he almost wound up playing for the Ravens (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). The quarterback added that he has had “interesting offers” from other teams as well. 
It’s not clear exactly how close the Ravens were to signing Griffin, despite his claims. In July, it was reported that the Ravens considered bringing Griffin in for a workout, but those plans were said to be 86’d. At that stage of the offseason, there was some uncertainty about Joe Flacco’s health. Fortunately for Baltimore, Flacco has started all 13 games so far and Ryan Mallett – who was shaky in training camp – has remained on the bench.
Given the lack of overall interest in Griffin this past year, we’re not expecting a booming market for his services in 2018. However, a few teams will probably be willing to kick the tires on him if he can demonstrate that he is healthy.
If the NFL market lags, he could always consider a CFL stint. North of the border, his rights are owned by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Devin Hester Announces Retirement
We had a feeling that Devin Hester was done with football, but we didn’t have official confirmation – until now. The legendary return man took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce that his playing days are over. 
Hester leaves the game with an unparalleled highlight reel and several records that may never be broken. Hester’s 20 combined kick return touchdowns are an NFL record, as are his 14 punt return TDs. He also holds the single-season record for most return touchdowns with six.
Hester immediately made a mark on the league when he was selected by the Bears in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft. As a rookie, Hester returned three punts and two kickoffs for touchdowns. He also returned the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI 92 yards for a TD, a game that the Bears would go on to lose. When hinting at retirement in January, Hester indicated that he was disappointed to be leaving the sport without a ring.
Late last year, Hester hooked on with the Seahawks to take one more shot at Super Bowl glory. Seattle came up short in the divisional round, but Hester left on a personal high note as he returned five kickoffs for 194 yards with a long of 78 yards. He also had an impressive punt return negated by a safety.
Hester might not have the championship he was after, but he leaves the game with four Pro Bowl nods and three first-team All-Pro selections. He’s also likely to become the first player enshrined in the Hall of Fame solely as a return man.
Opinion: Ravens Should Continue To Bolster CB Corps
- Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun writes that, before Jimmy Smith‘s season-ending Achilles tear last week, there was talk that the Ravens could release Brandon Carr to create cap space and rely on Smith and the team’s cadre of young and talented corners. Zrebiec, though, thought that was a bad idea before the Smith injury, and he believes it’s even worse now. Carr has played reasonably well, and Smith’s latest injury is just further proof that Baltimore cannot count on him for a full season (he may not even be ready for the start of 2018). Zrebiec thinks the Ravens should not only retain Carr, but they should also continue to bolster their CB corps.
ASU Had Interest In Greg Roman
- Before hiring Herm Edwards as their new head coach, Arizona State reached out to Ravens senior offensive assistant/tight ends coach Greg Roman, tweets Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com. Roman, who has previously served as an offensive coordinator for both the 49ers and Bills, doesn’t have any collegiate coaching experience and has no known ties to the Arizona area, but given that Edwards was their final choice, the Sun Devils clearly didn’t weight either of those factors heavily. Baltimore currently ranks 26th in offensive DVOA, but that’s certainly not an indictment on Roman, who has crafted excellent offensive schemes in his past stops.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/5/17
Today’s practice squad updates:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: RB Terrence Magee
- Waived: DB Jeremy Boykins
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: CB Robertson Daniel
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: P Cory Carter, S Dean Marlowe
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: LB Richie Brown
Chicago Bears
- Signed: OL Will Pericak, TE Colin Thompson
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: S Justin Currie
- Waived: WR Rannell Hall
Detroit Lions
- Signed: C Leo Koloamatangi
- Waived: S Stefan McClure
Denver Broncos
- Signed: OL Jeremiah Poutasi
- Waived: OL Gabe Ikard
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: TE Robert Tonyan
Houston Texans
- Signed: WR Devin Lucien, CB Josh Thornton
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: T Andreas Knappe
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: CB Sammy Seamster
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: TE Braedon Bowman
New England Patriots
- Signed: OL Jason King
Oakland Raiders
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: T Isaiah Battle, WR Cyril Grayson, DT Garrison Smith
- Waived: TE Steve Donatell
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: DE Sterling Bailey
Washington Redskins
- Signed: LB Pete Robertson
- Waived: S Orion Stewart