Minor NFL Transactions: 12/1/18
Here are Saturday’s minor moves:
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted from practice squad: OL Kyle Kalis
- Waived: WR Da’Mari Scott
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Promoted from practice squad: CB Dee Delaney
New York Jets
- Promoted from practice squad: CB Jeremy Clark
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Activated: Olasunkanmi Adeniyi
- Waived: LB Matthew Thomas
Tennessee Titans
- Promoted from practice squad: DB Joshua Kalu
- Waived: CB Kenneth Durden
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/28/18
Today’s practice squad updates:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: CB Chris Jones
Chicago Bears
- Signed: WR Cyril Grayson
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: OL Michael Dunn
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: RB Troymaine Pope
- Released: LB Jonathan Celestin
Seattle Seahawks
- Released: WR Malachi Dupre
Washington Redskins
- Signed: LB Josh Carraway
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/29/18
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Waived: QB Chad Kanoff
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Waived from injured reserve: TE DeAndre Goolsby
Jaguars’ Leonard Fournette Loses Appeal
Leonard Fournette‘s one-game suspension will stick. On Wednesday, the NFL announced that the Jaguars running back lost his appeal and will be suspended for this week’s game against the Colts. 
Fournette was ejected from Sunday’s game for taking a swing at Bills defender Shaq Lawson and was hit with a one-game ban on Monday for violating the league’s unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness rules. The former fourth overall selection will forfeit 1/17th of his $1.699MM base salary, which amounts to roughly $99K.
Unfortunately for the running back, the fiscal ramifications go far beyond one game check. If Fournette’s rookie deal includes void language regarding suspension, the remaining $7MM in guaranteed money left on his deal could be removed. Given Fournette’s injury history, that’s no small matter.
The Jags head into their Week 13 matchup against the Colts with a new offensive coordinator (quarterbacks coach Scott Milanovich, who replaces Nathaniel Hackett), quarterback (Cody Kessler), and running back. Carlos Hyde, whom the Jaguars acquired from the Browns earlier this year, figures to see split time with T.J. Yeldon in a makeshift Jaguars backfield on Sunday. Both backs will run behind an offensive line that’s now without its best player in Andrew Norwell, who was placed on injured reserve this week.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/27/18
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed off Dolphins’ practice squad: DE Cameron Malveaux,
- Signed: CB Dontae Johnson, CB Quinten Rollins
- Released: CB Chris Jones
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: P Matt Darr
- Waived: P Colton Schmidt
Carolina Panthers
- Promoted from practice squad: CB Lorenzo Doss
Denver Broncos
- Promoted from practice squad: TE Temarrick Hemingway
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: OL Gerhard de Beer
Houston Texans
- Activated from IR: LB Dylan Cole
- Waived: LB Josh Keyes
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Promoted from practice squad: CB C.J. Reavis
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: OL Chaz Green
San Francisco 49ers
- Claimed: DB Godwin Igwebuike (from Buccaneers)
- Promoted from practice squad: LB James Onwualu
- Placed on IR: CB/S Jimmie Ward
Seattle Seahawks
- Waived: WR Keenan Reynolds
NFL Suspends Jaguars RB Leonard Fournette
The NFL has handed Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette a one-game suspension after he took a swing at Bills defender Shaq Lawson on Sunday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Specifically, Fournette — who was ejected from yesterday’s matchup along with Lawson — will be banned for violating the league’s unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness rules. Fournette has already appealed the suspension and will hear back on Wednesday, tweets Rapoport.
Jacksonville will now head into its Week 13 matchup against the Colts with a new offensive coordinator (quarterbacks coach Scott Milanovich, who replaces Nathaniel Hackett), quarterback (Cody Kessler), and running back. Carlos Hyde, whom the Jaguars acquired from the Browns earlier this year, figures to see split time with T.J. Yeldon in a makeshift Jaguars backfield on Sunday. Both backs will run behind an offensive line that’s now without its best player in Andrew Norwell, who was placed on injured reserve earlier today.
At 3-8, the Jaguars have no shot at a playoff berth, so missing Fournette for one game won’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. However, Fournette — who had returned in Week 10 from a lengthy injury-related absence — will be penalized financially. The former fourth overall selection will be now forfeit 1/17 of his $1.699MM base salary, which amounts to roughly $99K.
As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explains, Fournette could potentially be subject to an even greater financial loss. If Fournette’s rookie contract contains void language regarding suspension, the remaining $7MM in guaranteed money left on his deal could be removed. If the Jaguars were to attempt to release Fournette and not pay him those remaining guarantees, he’d surely take his case to an arbiter.
Jaguars Promote Scott Milanovich To OC
After firing Nathaniel Hackett, the Jaguars will tab one of his lieutenants as the replacement offensive coordinator.
Quarterbacks coach Scott Milanovich will take over as OC and call plays, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Milanovich is in his second season with the Jaguars.
Hackett joined the Jags as their QBs coach in 2015, ascending to the role of interim OC during the 2016 season and taking over full-time during the 2017 offseason. The Jags, though, have struggled for most of this season. They rank 28th in points scored and 22nd in yardage.
The Jags gave Milanovich his first NFL role. The 45-year-old assistant and former Maryland quarterback spent the previous five seasons as the Toronto Argonauts’ head coach. He’ll now be working with new starting quarterback Cody Kessler, whom the Jaguars are moving into the starting lineup to take over for the ineffective Blake Bortles.
Jaguars Place Andrew Norwell On IR
The ankle injury Andrew Norwell suffered Sunday will result in an IR stay for the veteran guard. His first Jaguars season will come to an end.
Norwell is now set to rehab a sprained ankle and will miss the Jags’ final five games. Jacksonville made the 2017 first-team a $13MM-per-year player this offseason.
This marks the fourth starting offensive lineman the Jags have sent to IR this season. Norwell follows Cam Robinson, Brandon Linder and part-time starter Josh Wells to the season-ending injury list. The former Panthers guard started all 11 games this season.
Jacksonville is now 3-8 and has fired its offensive coordinator and demoted its longtime starting quarterback today. While significant changes may be in store for the Jags this offseason — though, Doug Marrone is believed to be safe — Norwell will almost certainly be back in Jacksonville’s starting lineup next season.
Jaguars Bench Blake Bortles
For the second time this season, the Jaguars have demoted Blake Bortles. The reeling team will turn to Cody Kessler in Week 13. Doug Marrone announced the change Monday.
The Jags demoted Bortles during a loss earlier this season, but after Kessler’s cameo, the defending AFC South champions reinstalled Bortles as their starter. That decision did not work out. The Jags lost their next four games and are now 3-8.
With its losing streak now at seven games, Jacksonville fired offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Now, Bortles will head to the bench. The Jags acquired Kessler from the Browns this offseason, one that may be scrutinized for a while.
During a rocky 2017 Bortles season, the Jaguars were viewed as a prime suitor for quarterbacks in this year’s unusually deep market. But Bortles (and a No. 1-ranked defense) helped the Jags to the AFC championship game. Instead of moving on from Bortles, the franchise signed him to an $18MM-AAV extension and did not make a significant investment in a possible challenger for the embattled starter. Kessler, acquired for a conditional 2019 seventh-rounder, was the top offseason add.
Prior to their decision to bypass the the 2018 QB marketplace — which included Kirk Cousins, Alex Smith, Case Keenum, Tyrod Taylor and Teddy Bridgewater — the Jaguars passed on Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson to select Leonard Fournette during the 2017 draft. They now figure to be interested in a 2019 upgrade at the position though will have a difficult time shedding Bortles’ contract. The fifth-year passer is signed through 2020 and would cost the Jags $16.5MM in dead money to cut in 2019. Bortles has a $1MM roster bonus due in March, and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com adds (via Twitter) $6.5MM of his $14MM 2019 base salary is fully guaranteed.
Bortles posted a 46.8 Total QBR this season and threw for fewer than 130 yards in his past two games. The 2014 No. 3 overall pick has completed less than 60 percent of his passes in six of the seven games that have comprised the Jags’ losing streak.
A 2016 third-round pick, Kessler’s made eight starts — all in Cleveland’s 1-15 2016 season — and has thrown seven touchdown passes compared to four interceptions. He completed 70 percent of his passes, albeit at just 5.2 yards per attempt, in his lone Jags appearance this season.
The team is now plunging toward another top-10 pick, which would be its 11th in the past 12 years. Next year’s draft crop, though, is not expected to be as fruitful at the quarterback position as the most recent group of prospects was.
Jaguars G Andrew Norwell Suffers Injury
The Jaguars will be without guard Andrew Norwell for a bit. Norwell is believed to have a sprained ankle that is expected to sideline him for “a few weeks”, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
[RELATED: Jaguars Fire OC Nathaniel Hackett]
Norwell will undergo a full MRI on Monday to determine the full extent of his injury. No matter what, it sounds like Norwell will miss multiple games, though it won’t have a major impact on the Jaguars’ season one way or another.
After Sunday’s loss to the Bills, the Jaguars dropped to 3-8 and officially took themselves out of playoff contention. They also dropped offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, which may be the first of several changes to go down in Jacksonville.
Norwell joined the Jaguars in March on a five-year, $66.5MM deal with $30MM fully guaranteed at signing. With a salary of $13.3MM per year, Norwell stands as the highest-paid left guard in the NFL.
As underscored by the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus, Norwell hasn’t been his usual self in 2018. PFF ranked Norwell as the third-best guard in the league last year for his work with the Panthers. So far this year, the 27-year-old is 27th among guards in the NFL.