Minor NFL Transactions: 11/28/17
Here are today’s minor moves.
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed off Saints’ practice squad: LB Gabe Martin
- Signed: RB Bronson Hill
- Waived: S Harlan Miller
- Waived: G/T Vinston Painter
Chicago Bears
- Waived: WR Tre McBride
Denver Broncos
- Released from IR: TE A.J. Derby
Indianapolis Colts
- Claimed: TE Ross Travis
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: TE Orson Charles
New England Patriots
- Signed off Ravens’ Practice Squad: LB Nicholas Grigsby
- Signed: OL Jason King
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: WR Isaac Whitney
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: DT Rodney Coe
- Waived: DT Garrison Smith
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Bobo Wilson
- Signed: FB Alan Cross
- Waived: TE Luke Stocker
SI: Broncos Make Sense For Manning
- Manning has a no-trade clause in his contract, but after Tuesday’s events, the two-time Super Bowl MVP may be more inclined to waive it for a chance at another starting job. Conor Orr of SI.com lists the Jaguars as a fit, while placing the Broncos and Cardinals as the other top two destinations. The Broncos are in a similar place to the Jags, only with their quarterback woes having removed them from a Super Bowl perch, and the Cardinals will likely again be waiting on a Carson Palmer retirement decision. The Palmer-to-Manning switch would be interesting given that Palmer is only a month older than Manning.
- As for a Manning/Coughlin reunion, Joel Corry of CBS Sports tweets the Jags could create $19MM in cap space by cutting Bortles after this season. That option doesn’t become fully guaranteed until Day 5 of the 2018 league year (March 14). Prior to a Bortles cut, the Jags have just more than $30MM in projected 2018 cap space. The Broncos have $32MM-plus, and the Cardinals — with Palmer’s 2018 salary on their books as of now — stand to hold more than $35MM.
NFL Reduces Michael Crabtree, Aqib Talib Suspensions To One Game
The Raiders will have Michael Crabtree back in their starting lineup come Week 14. The NFL reduced the wideout’s two-game suspension to one on Tuesday night, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports, adding Aqib Talib‘s two-game ban has also been trimmed to one (Twitter links).
Crabtree will only miss this week’s game against the Giants. The Raiders face the Chiefs in Week 14. Talib will miss Sunday’s Broncos-Dolphins game but be back for Denver’s Week 14 game against the Jets.
The two essentially shared culpability in the widespread brawl that featured the rivals in a rare one-on-one fight scene in the end zone. But a day after the suspensions were handed out, the Raiders and Broncos received word the NFL has softened its stance upon appeals voiced from James Thrash (representing Talib) and Derrick Brooks (representing Crabtree).
Talib will save $570K as a result of Tuesday’s adjusted punishment. Crabtree will save $367K. This will be Talib’s second one-game suspension in three seasons. He missed a November 2015 game as a result of on-field actions against the Colts. Crabtree will miss his second game as a Raider. The veteran pass-catcher played in each of Oakland’s 32 regular-season games during the 2015 and ’16 seasons before missing Week 4 of this season — against the Broncos.
Both Vance Joseph and John Elway stood by Talib during his appeal hearing, Mike Klis of 9News tweets.
The Raiders still could be facing the prospect of playing without Crabtree or Amari Cooper for the first time since the duo became Raiders two seasons ago. Cooper is dealing with a concussion and a sprained ankle. The Broncos will turn to Bradley Roby to start opposite Chris Harris, with third-round rookie Brendan Langley — whom Cooper scored a short touchdown against during Sunday’s Raiders win — filling in as the nickel presence.
Michael Crabtree and Aqib Talib Suspended Two Games
Both wide receiver Michael Crabtree and cornerback Aqib Talib have been suspended two games for the fight that took place during yesterday’s game between the Raiders and Broncos, the NFL’s Vice President of Football Communications, Michael Signora, has announced on Twitter.
Normally when players are ejected because of personal foul penalties they are not subject to suspension of any kind. However, both players had a history of bad blood with each other that boiled over again on Sunday, even after it was reported that the refs had each given a warning to both sides before the game started, knowing that there had been prior altercations.
Vice President of Football Operations Jon Runyan explained the reasoning to both players in separate quotes in the press release. Runyan stated the multiple violations and excessive violence that took place after the play, which led to a team-wide brawl that could have easily been avoided.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com adds that both players will be appealing their suspensions in the coming days (Twitter link).
While no other suspensions were announced by the league, Raiders lineman Gabe Jackson was mentioned as being another possibility to face league discipline as well in terms of a fine for his role in the dispute.
Two games is a very serious punishment when looking at the history of fights throughout the league and will definitely stick in the mind of any player looking to start problems from past events.
The suspensions themselves affect the Raiders more than the Broncos as Oakland is still in the playoff hunt. But, without Crabtree and perhaps fellow WR Amari Cooper, who suffered a concussion, in addition to the sprained right ankle we learned about earlier today, the Raiders will need the likes of Seth Roberts, Johnny Holton and Cordarrelle Patterson to step up vs. the Giants in Week 13.
Denver has a capable backup corner in Bradley Roby, but is likely to add further depth for the next two weeks as the team only has one other backup on the depth chart.
Paxton Lynch Suffers High Ankle Sprain
The Broncos’ late-season audition plan for Paxton Lynch hit a snag in the first of those starts, and the injury that caused Lynch to leave the Raiders game Sunday will force the team to start another quarterback against the Dolphins.
Lynch suffered a high ankle sprain, Mike Klis of 9News reports (on Twitter). He will not play against the Dolphins, Klis reports. Trevor Siemian will start in Miami.
Vance Joseph announced Lynch suffered this injury (per James Palmer of NFL.com, on Twitter) and said he will miss between two and four weeks, so this stalls a crucial evaluation for the second-year passer. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (on Twitter) this figures to be a minimum three-game absence for Lynch.
By Week 13, the Broncos will have started three different quarterbacks in three games. They appear set to revert to their original lineup, with Brock Osweiler backing up Siemian. But this stalls a Lynch evaluation process that’s already overdue, considering the franchise invested a first-round pick in him last year.
Lynch has started just three games, and this meaningless stretch for the 2017 team could have doubled as a test run for the Broncos to determine if they can put faith in Lynch next season or if they need to re-enter the quarterback market. This injury further muddies that prospective decision.
As he has at just about every juncture of their overlapping tenures as Broncos, Siemian fared better than Lynch on Sunday, leading the team to two touchdowns in the second half. Lynch finished 9 of 14 for 41 yards (2.9 per attempt) and left the game with the Broncos down 21-0 in Oakland.
Lynch Injured, QB Position Uncertain
The Broncos turned to another quarterback, but got the same results in today’s loss to Oakland. Second-year signal caller Paxton Lynch was the latest passer to rack up a defeat during the team’s seven game losing streak. However, the loss was not the only thing the former first round pick suffered on Sunday.
Latest On Lynch, Joseph, Elway
- Paxton Lynch is back under center for the Broncos, and Rapoport (video link) says they want him to start the rest of the year so they can fairly evaluate what they have in last year’s first-rounder. The team will run a much simpler offensive scheme for Lynch than what it employed under former OC Mike McCoy, and Lynch has been encouraged to simply do what he does best, which is run around and improvise.
- We learned earlier today that the Raiders are likely to fire OC Todd Downing at season’s end, and that McCoy is an obvious candidate to replace him. Within that story, we cited another La Canfora article in which the CBS scribe reported that the McCoy firing might have been just the tip of the iceberg for the Broncos. He suggests that there is speculation that head coach Vance Joseph could be out after just one year on the job, and at the very least, that Denver could shake up other parts of its coaching staff.
- Broncos GM John Elway has taken a lot of heat for his club’s 3-7 record in 2017, but Mike Klis of 9News.com says that criticism is largely unwarranted. In an interesting piece that pits Elway’s draft results against those of his long-tenured colleagues, Elway comes out near the top of the heap of NFL general managers, which makes Klis believe he will be able to turn the ship around in 2018.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/25/17
Here are today’s minor moves.
Denver Broncos
- Signed: NT Kyle Peko
Detroit Lions
- Waived: DE Jeremiah Valoaga
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: TE Jason Vander
- Waived: G Isaiah Williams
Broncos Waive CB Lorenzo Doss
Lorenzo Doss‘ three-season tenure with the Broncos ended on Thanksgiving Day after the team made the decision to waive the cornerback. But they look to have done so because of something that happened this morning.
The Broncos cut Doss because he was late for a meeting on Thanksgiving morning, Mike Klis of 9News reports.
The Broncos’ roster stands at 52 players, and Vance Joseph said (via Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post) the team probably wouldn’t fill Doss’ spot until after Sunday’s game against the Raiders.
Drafted in the fifth round before the Broncos’ Super Bowl title season, Doss played sparingly but could not carve out much of a role in Denver’s deep cornerback contingent. Chris Harris, Aqib Talib and Bradley Roby made opportunities scarce for Kayvon Webster from 2014-16, and Webster played ahead of Doss on Denver’s depth chart. This season, Doss played only eight defensive snaps and was active in only three games after Webster’s departure.
This move leaves the Broncos with just four cornerbacks on the 53-man roster. But Denver has used backup safety Will Parks as a dime performer over Doss this season. The Broncos also invested a third-round pick in Brendan Langley in April.
Booker Could Get Increased Workload
- The Broncos offense has not produced this season, but the running game may change in a shift to running back Devontae Booker according to their new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, reports Nick Kosmider of The Denver Post. “Book’ has really been playing some good football,” interim offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said Wednesday. “I think Book deserves more touches. Obviously, we’ll see how the game goes.” Kosmider notes that the second-year back’s workload has been increasing in the past few weeks. Booker missed the first three games of the season recovering from an injury to his wrist. He carried the ball a season-high 14 times this past Sunday. He hadn’t passed single-digit carries this entire year until the team’s game versus the Bengals in Week 11.