Sunday Roundup: Hardy, L. McCown, Welker
As this week’s games get underway in full force, let’s take a look at some notes from around the league:
- Rick Stroud of The Tampa Bay Times, citing ESPN’s Adam Schefter, reports that the Buccaneers put together a contract structure for Greg Hardy that the Cowboys ultimately mirrored, but Tampa Bay’s contract was contingent on the club meeting with Hardy for evaluation. Once it became clear that such a meeting was not possible, the Bucs pulled the offer (Twitter links).
- Katherine Terrell of The Times-Picayune writes that Saints backup quarterback Luke McCown will get a second opinion on his back injury this week, but Terrell’s source indicates that McCown will likely require season ending surgery. As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, the news is fairly significant, as New Orleans has never had to rely on a rookie to back up Drew Brees.
- Ian Rapoport of NFL.com writes that free agent wide receiver Wes Welker is still waiting for his phone to ring, and that he has passed both physicals he has taken this year. He wants to play for a contender, and he has instructed his agent to reach out again to the teams on his list to see if there is a fit.
- ESPN’s Jane McManus tweets that the NFL’s investigation into Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel‘s recent encounter with police is expected to conclude this week. McManus notes that the police report and various witness testimony have complicated the investigation.
- Although there was more league-wide effort to make a deal prior to this year’s trade deadline than in seasons past, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that only one trade was made because the demand from sellers was too great. The Browns and 49ers in particular asked for compensation that rival executives believed was unreasonable.
- Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com takes a detailed look at the 2016 wide receiver free agent class and the types of contracts some of the bigger names in the class can expect to land. Fitzgerald says the best player on that list, Alshon Jeffery, is better equipped to handle a franchise tag should the Bears go that route because he is so young and the tag will not impact the way teams view his future as long as he remains healthy.
- ESPN’s Adam Caplan tweets that the Jaguars are likely to part ways with Toby Gerhart at season’s end.
- Likewise, Jordan Raanan of NJ.com believes Jon Beason has played his last game for the Giants (Twitter link).
North Notes: Thomas, Bell, Janis
As expected, the agent for Browns left tackle Joe Thomas, Peter Schaffer, has quickly moved to dispute this morning’s reports that the trade that would have sent Thomas to the Broncos fell through because Denver would not guarantee Thomas’ 2016 and 2017 salaries. Those reports, of course, also mentioned that Thomas asked Cleveland to see if it would be able to trade him. In a series of tweets, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com passes along Schaffer’s response.
Schaffer says Denver and Cleveland never discussed Thomas’ contract, adding that if the Broncos were willing to give up a first-round pick for Thomas, they had no intention of cutting him, so there would have been no need to discuss guaranteed salaries. Furthermore, Schaffer says neither he nor Thomas asked the Browns to pursue a trade, and he is frustrated that this morning’s news made Thomas–who expressed surprise that he was almost traded, and said he would have been crushed should the deal have happened–look like a liar. Former NFL agent Joel Corry weighed in as well (via Twitter), noting that even if Thomas did ask for his 2016 and 2017 salaries to be guaranteed, that should not have killed the trade unless Schaffer convinced Denver that a holdout was coming next year.
Now let’s take a look at some more notes from the league’s north divisions:
- Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says the Steelers, who typically refuse to entertain in-season extension talks with their players, may have to make an exception for Le’Veon Bell, who underwent season-ending knee surgery on Friday. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets that Bell is on target to return right when the 2016 season begins, but Kaboly points out that any complication would make it an in-season return. If the Steelers then choose to wait until the end of the season to negotiate with Bell, it could be too late, as the talented back would be eligible for free agency. As such, Pittsburgh may have to bite the bullet and discuss an extension with Bell in the midst of the 2016 campaign.
- The Steelers will not, however, discuss an extension with Bell until they at least get some idea of how his knee handles game action, as Corry tweets. La Canfora agrees, tweeting that although the team feels “very good” about how Bell will recover, they will shelve extension talks for a while, particularly since they will likely need to address Antonio Brown‘s contract in the near future as well.
- In his latest mailbag, Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com explains why he believes Tashaun Gipson will not be with the Browns in 2016, and he looks at the dilemma head coach Mike Pettine faces in deciding whether Johnny Manziel or Josh McCown should be under center for the remainder of the year.
- Jeff Janis, the Packers‘ seventh-round selection in 2014, is the only member of the team to amass 78 or more receiving yards in a single game during the last month. However, as Michael Cohen of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes, Green Bay has shown a strange reluctance to consistently include Janis in the game plan, despite the team’s offensive struggles. Cohen takes a look at Janis’ journey to this point in his career as he awaits an opportunity to prove himself on a weekly basis.
- Matt Vensel of The Star Tribune describes how the Vikings, who again looked to the later rounds of the draft to address their biggest offseason need, the offensive line, have been hurt by that strategy this year. Vensel goes on to explore the team’s history of seeking out late-round gems to fill out its O-line.
No Joe Thomas Deal For Broncos, Browns
SUNDAY, 8:20am: Ian Rapoport of NFL.com adds, in a series of Twitter links, a little more context to the deal that nearly sent Thomas to the Broncos. Our Zach Links wrote a few hours after the trade deadline passed that the deal broke down, at least in part, over a holdup on converting Thomas’ remaining salary for 2016 and 2017 into guarantees. Rapoport reiterated that report this morning, noting that the trade fell apart when the Broncos would not guarantee as much as Thomas wanted.
Furthemore, Rapoport says that although Thomas certainly does have strong feelings for the Browns, he did ask Cleveland to explore potential trades prior to the deadline. As Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com writes, that news, along with the report that the trade did not happen because of Thomas’ push for guaranteed money in 2016 and 2017, does not mesh with Thomas’ recent statement that he would have been crushed and surprised if the deal had been consummated. Although Thomas may release another statement in light of these reports, the fact remains that he is still a Brown and is under contract through 2018. He is due to make $8.3MM, $8.8MM, and $8.8MM over the next three seasons, respectively.
MONDAY, 3:20pm: Troy Renck of the Denver Post and Mike Klis of 9News (Twitter links) both dismiss the idea that the Broncos didn’t finalize a deal because they ran out of time or didn’t have the cap space, suggesting it was the Browns’ asking price that made Denver balk.
Russini adds (via Twitter) that the Broncos were offering a fifth-round pick and the Browns wanted a third-round pick, though it’s not clear how those selections fit into her previous report (noted below). According to Klis (via Twitter), the Browns wanted a first-rounder and at least one other early-round pick, which was too rich for the Broncos.
MONDAY, 3:07pm: Moments before today’s 3:00pm CT trade deadline, the Broncos were “racing” to restructure contracts in order to create the necessary cap room to accommodate a trade-deadline addition, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). However, it appears that deal fell through, or the team simply ran out of time.
According to Dianna Marie Russini of ESPN.com (Twitter links), the proposed trade would have sent Browns left tackle Joe Thomas and a fourth-round 2016 pick to Denver in exchange for the Broncos’ first- and second-round picks in 2016. Russini suggests that it’s not clear whether the two sides were in agreement on that proposal before the deadline — it sounds as if it was close, but couldn’t get finalized before the deadline.
Cleveland head coach Mike Pettine confirmed to reporters moments ago the Browns didn’t make any trades (Twitter link via Albert Breer of the NFL Network).
The Browns were reportedly considering deals for several of their veteran players in advance of today’s deadline, including Thomas, Alex Mack, Paul Kruger, and Barkevious Mingo. A report this afternoon indicated that the team wasn’t likely to complete a major trade, so perhaps the Broncos made an unexpected last-minute push to try to land Thomas.
This wasn’t the first time the two teams had discussed a potential Thomas trade, with at least one report this morning suggesting that Denver offered a first-round pick for the standout tackle earlier in the season. With both Ryan Clady and Ty Sambrailo out for the year, the Broncos could have used a stalwart lineman like Thomas to protect Peyton Manning‘s blind side the rest of the way, but the Browns’ asking price was steep.
AFC Notes: Titans, Browns, Cobb, Luck
Peyton Manning‘s return to Indianapolis will headline the Week 9 slate of games from a public relations perspective, but two other matchups might actually be more consequential in terms of playoff odds. The 3-4 Dolphins will head to Buffalo to take on the fellow 3-4 Bills, while two more contenders for AFC wild card spots — the Raiders (4-3) and Steelers (4-4) — will face off in Pittsburgh.
With those contests in mind, let’s take a look at some notes from the AFC:
- The Titans waived running back Terrance West earlier today, and that move will have implications on the Browns, West’s former club. Cleveland will not not receive the conditional seventh-round pick they were set to gain for West when they traded him to the Tennessee, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports. West’s departure from Tennessee today prevents him from earning the playing-time incentives to trigger the pick exchange.
- David Cobb will likely rejoin the Titans next week off IR-DTR, Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com reports (on Twitter), further marginalizing the free-falling West. ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan agrees, tweeting that he expects Cobb to join the 53-man roster next week as opposed to today despite West’s waiving.
- The league is still investigating the Colts‘ compliance with injury reporting due to revelations that Andrew Luck could be dealing with a rib injury, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link). Luck reportedly suffered several broken ribs, but that injury was never listed on the club’s official injury sheet, a potential violation of NFL rules.
Dallas Robinson contributed to this post.
AFC Notes: Colts, Harvin, Jets, Browns
The 3-5 Colts, losers of three straight games and one of the NFL’s most disappointing teams, are a strong bet to drop their fourth consecutive contest this Sunday when they match up with the 7-0 Broncos. Their season has also gone poorly away from the field, as speculation regarding the statuses of beleaguered general manager Ryan Grigson and head coach Chuck Pagano has abounded and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton lost his job earlier this week.
Indy’s players – specifically team leaders Robert Mathis and D’Qwell Jackson – are cognizant of the organization’s off-field turmoil and called a meeting among themselves last week in an effort to galvanize each other. At the meeting, the players encouraged one another to ignore distractions coming from the front office and coaching staff, Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star reports. One issue players are unhappy with centers on the front office – not the coaching staff – making certain lineup decisions, a dysfunctional action that takes a significant amount of power from Pagano & Co.
Here’s more from the AFC:
- Bills receiver Percy Harvin could end up on injured reserve with a knee injury, general manager Doug Whaley told The Buffalo News’ Vic Carucci (Twitter link). Harvin’s knee “flared up,” Whaley said (via Twitter). The seventh-year man has 19 catches on 30 targets this year. He has been out of the Bills’ lineup with injuries since mid-October.
- Jets cornerback Dee Milliner is back to full health after undergoing wrist surgery during the summer, but the team is unlikely to activate him from short-term injured reserve for this weekend’s game against the Jaguars, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini (Twitter link). On why Milliner won’t be in the lineup, head coach Todd Bowles said (via Howie Kussoy of the New York Post), “It’s just a numbers thing.” If the Jets don’t activate Milliner by Tuesday, they’ll have to place him on season-ending IR.
- Browns head coach Mike Pettine said cornerback Charles Gaines, who had been on short-term IR because of a hamstring injury, is likely to start playing soon (Twitter link via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal). Gaines, a sixth-round rookie out of Louisville, hasn’t appeared in an NFL game yet.
- The Jets worked out two free agent receivers – LaRon Byrd and Damarr Aultman – on Friday, according to Cimini (Twitter link). Byrd is the only of the two who has seen action in the league, though it was for just four games back in 2012. He has one career catch.
North Notes: Browns, J. Thomas, Lions
With Josh McCown bothered by a painful rib injury, second-year quarterback Johnny Manziel got the nod for the Browns on Thursday night. The returns weren’t great, with Manziel struggling in the second half, completing less than 50% of his passes as the Browns fell 31-10 to the division-rival Bengals.
Still, there were some positive signs for the former 22nd overall pick, who threw for 128 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Was it enough for the Browns to give him another start? Head coach Mike Pettine wasn’t ready to commit to that following the game, as Pat McManamon of ESPN.com writes.
“When we get in and get back from this time off, we will assess what pool of players are available and go ahead and make those decisions from there,” Pettine said. “This will be a good time to step away and reassess where we are moving forward.”
As the Browns figure out who their starting quarterback will be the next time they take the field, let’s check in on some other items from out of the NFL’s North divisions….
- All-Pro Browns left tackle Joe Thomas was nearly dealt to the Broncos at the trade deadline on Tuesday, and while he admitted he would have been “really crushed” to leave Cleveland, he added that he’s not upset the team considered moving him. “It doesn’t really bother me that they listened to people that offered things,” Thomas said, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. “It’s kind of like you’re walking down the street and somebody says, ‘Hey, nice watch. You want to sell it?’ You say, ‘Well, it’s not for sale.’ But then you think and go, ‘Well, what will you give me?’ It’s just a matter of what the price is. Obviously, from the sounds of it, it was close but no cigar.”
- Having watched Dwayne Bowe outperform Taylor Gabriel in Thursday’s game, Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk wonders why the Browns have been playing Gabriel over Bowe for most of the season. In Smith’s view, the fact that Bowe hasn’t seen much playing time after Cleveland gave him $9MM in guaranteed money speaks to a possible disconnect between GM Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine.
- After seeing GM Martin Mayhew and president Tom Lewand get axed yesterday by the Lions, Detroit players acknowledged that major changes to the roster could be the next shoe to drop. “When new people come in, they obviously feel like the people who were here weren’t getting the job done, so they try to bring in their own guys,” safety Glover Quin said, according to Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press. “Everybody, at least for me, I feel like everybody’s on the chopping block. Everybody’s job is on the line.”
AFC Notes: Benjamin, Cobb, Steelers
Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap ran down the top wide receivers in the 2016 free agent class, including Browns speedster Travis Benjamin. Benjamin is on pace for over 1,200 yards and eight touchdowns on the year, but he doesn’t have a history of this production and will have to shed concerns that he is a flash in the pan. Fitzgerald estimates that he’ll get a deal in the range of Julian Edelman, Doug Baldwin, and Emmanuel Sanders. That tier generally has a floor of about $4.5MM per year with perhaps $1MM or $2MM more depending on production.
- Interim coach Mike Mularkey says that running back David Cobb most likely won’t be activated to the Titans‘ roster until next week, as Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com tweets. McCormick (link) adds that the Titans may have to make roster move at cornerback this week with cornerbacks Jason McCourty and Blidi Wreh-Wilson ailing.
- Doran Grant told Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (on Twitter) that a couple of teams were looking to sign him off of Pittsburgh’s practice squad and he indicated that’s why he was promoted to the Steelers‘ 53-man roster.
- Ty Sambrailo, who was converted left tackle before hitting the IR, probably isn’t the Broncos‘ left tackle of the future, but his college coach believes that he can come back strong, as Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com writes. “I still believe Ty can be a 12- to 15-year player in the NFL,” said Colorado State coach Jim McElwain, now the coach at Florida. “He’s athletic and he’s nasty. It’s just going to take him awhile to get his strength where he needs to be.” It remains to be seen whether that will be the case for Sambrailo and, if it is, whether that will happen in Denver.
North Notes: Packers, Peterson, Jacoby Jones
There are some big free agent decisions looming for the Packers, as Rob Reischel of the Journal-Sentinel writes. The Packers’ unrestricted free agents will include defensive end Mike Daniels, defensive tackles B.J. Raji and Letroy Guion, cornerback Casey Hayward, outside linebackers Mike Neal and Nick Perry, kicker Mason Crosby, wide receiver James Jones, fullback John Kuhn, and running back James Starks. Meanwhile, safety Chris Banjo, linebacker Andy Mulumba and guard Lane Taylor headline Green Bay’s list of restricted free agents. GM Ted Thompson has done a great job of keeping the team’s core together in recent years, but this year’s free agent class might test his abilities.
Here’s more out of the North divisions:
- Tom Brady isn’t the only star that wants to play for another decade, as Mike Florio of PFT writes. “If God’s willing, 10 more years,” Vikings running back Adrian Peterson said regarding the duration of his career. “If God’s willing, I’ll just be able to walk away from the game at the highest level whenever I decide.” For his career, AP has run for 10,823 total yards. He’s still 7,532 yards behind Emmitt Smith’s all-time career total.
- Ravens coach John Harbaugh wasn’t aware of Jacoby Jones‘ release until shortly after practice Wednesday, Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun tweets. Harbaugh said that Jones’ availability will at least be discussed. On Tuesday, the Chargers parted ways with the one time Baltimore Super Bowl hero. The veteran returned five punts for a grand total of -4 yards for the Bolts, which clearly wasn’t what they had in mind when they gave him a two-year, $5.5MM deal in the spring.
- The Browns will start Johnny Manziel vs. the Bengals on Thursday night, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/4/15
With the 2015 trade deadline now behind us, NFL teams will have one less tool at their disposal to try to upgrade their rosters. We can expect plenty more signings and cuts in the coming weeks though. Here are today’s minor transactions from across the league:
- The Raiders have signed receiver and return man Marcus Thigpen, according to Bill Williamson of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Thigpen, who has already spent time with the Bills and Colts this season, will get a chance to take over return duties in Oakland.
- The Browns have placed tight end Rob Housler on injured reserve, promoting defensive back De’Ante Saunders from the practice squad to replace him on the roster, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). Housler caught just one pass for the club before seeing his season derailed by a hamstring issue.
- After moving Clinton McDonald to their injured reserve list on Tuesday, the Buccaneers have added another defensive lineman, announcing in a press release that they’ve signed Lawrence Sidbury. Sidbury, who initially joined the Bucs last December, has never been an NFL starter, but appeared in 48 games for the Falcons in the first four years of his career.
- The Chargers announced a slew of roster moves on Tuesday, and they capped that series of transactions today by promoting defensive lineman Damion Square to their 53-man roster, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Square is one of four new players on San Diego’s roster this week.
- Having cut running back Joseph Randle on Tuesday, the Cowboys signed running back Trey Williams off Washington‘s practice squad to fill the hole in the backfield, according to Rapoport (via Twitter). Williams, who has yet to see a regular-season snap, figures to fight Rod Smith for the No. 3 role behind Darren McFadden and Christine Michael.
- The Steelers have elevated cornerback Doran Grant from their practice squad to the active roster, waiving QB/WR Tyler Murphy in a corresponding move, the team announced today.
AFC North Notes: Browns, Farmer, Ravens
Here’s a look at the AFC North:
- When asked about deadline day, Browns GM Ray Farmer admitted that there was some activity, as Pat McManamon of ESPN.com tweets. “We didn’t actively try to go out and move anybody. There was no shopping from my perspective. But I … listened,” Farmer said.
- Farmer says that he does not believe his job security is any more tenuous than it was upon his hire in February 2014, Pat McManamon of ESPN.com writes. “The reality is that my seat’s no warmer than it was the day I got it,” Farmer said. “That’s a perception that everybody has for me and not a perception I have of myself.” The Browns are off to a 2-6 start in 2015.
- Don’t expect a reunion between the Ravens and the recently released Jacoby Jones, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com writes. Jones was a Super Bowl hero for Baltimore not long ago, but he hasn’t been the same player in the last two seasons. As banged up as the Ravens’ group of wide receivers is, Jones wouldn’t be a real improvement for the team, Hensley argues.