NFC Notes: Holliday, 49ers, Vikings
While much has been made of the NFC’s miserable South division, the race to the postseason is heating up in the East, North, and West, and all three divisions will be on display during this week’s Thanksgiving games — the winner of the Eagles/Cowboys contest will take over first place in the East, while the Seahawks/49ers winner will gain an advantage in the Wild Card race. Meanwhile, the Lions have lost their last two games and their hold on the NFC North, and will have an uphill battle for a Wild Card berth if they’re upset at home by the Bears.
As we look forward to what should be an entertaining slate of Thursday games, let’s check in on the latest out of the NFC….
- Having already been cut this year by the Giants and Buccaneers, return specialist Trindon Holliday is looking for a new home, and worked out this week for the 49ers, per Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). San Francisco also auditioned running back David Fluellen, who was cut by the Colts prior to the regular season.
- While head coach Jim Harbaugh isn’t viewed as likely to return to the 49ers next season, quarterback Colin Kaepernick told reporters today he believes Harbaugh will continue on with the team beyond 2014. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has the details.
- After seeing starting right tackle Phil Loadholt go down for the season with a pectoral injury, the Vikings worked out veteran tackles Eric Winston and J’Marcus Webb, tweets Field Yates of ESPN.com.
- Sam Bradford of the Rams, Steven Jackson of the Falcons, and Dashon Goldson of the Buccaneers are among the high-priced veterans who could become cap casualties in the offseason, writes Yates in an Insider-only ESPN.com piece.
- Bradford and Goldson earn spots on a similar list from Joel Corry of CBSSports.com, who also identifies Marshawn Lynch of the Seahawks and Larry Fitzgerald of the Cardinals as stars who could be released by their respective teams.
- Running back Kapri Bibbs will ultimately end up sticking with the Broncos’ practice squad after being waived by the team over the weekend, but he did work out for the Cardinals today, as Troy Renck of the Denver Post details.
Rose Bowl Could House NFL Team In LA
If an NFL franchise does relocate to Los Angeles, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena is a viable option to act as a temporary home stadium, reports Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. Both the Raiders and the Rams are reportedly considering a move to L.A. for the 2015 season, but according to La Canfora, Pasadena officials would only approve the use of the Rose Bowl for a single NFL club. The Rose Bowl, of course, is the home of the UCLA Bruins, and the site of the eponymous NCAA bowl game each January.
While the Pasadena government has made concessions that would allow more games to be played at the Rose Bowl, those changes wouldn’t be enough to permit two NFL franchises to use the site as their home stadium during the same season. La Canfora notes that some league insiders believe that an ideal scenario would see two clubs move to Los Angeles at once in order to defray the risk and cost of financing and building a new stadium. However, one of those two teams would need to play its home games at a less-than-ideal spot, likely the Los Angeles Coliseum.
The Raiders and Rams are both operating on year-to-year leases with their current stadiums, a setup that Raiders owner Mark Davis recently deemed untenable. Clubs interested in relocating currently have until February to announce their intentions, although that date could be pushed back.
NFC West Notes: 49ers, Britt, Lynch
Before landing in Washington, DeSean Jackson seriously contemplated the idea of joining the 49ers in free agency, the veteran wideout told reporters today, including Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News.
“I had some talks with them, the general manager, coach [Jim] Harbaugh, things like that,” Jackson said during a conference call. “It was a close call. Almost made a trip to come out there. But Washington did what did to keep me here and did everything right. Coach Harbaugh and I played against each other, when he was at Stanford and I was at Cal. I respect him. It was a close call but I came here.”
As we contemplate what the Niners’ offense might’ve looked like with Jackson in the fold, let’s round up a few more items from out of the NFC West….
- If there’s tension in San Francisco between Harbaugh and the 49ers‘ front office, it doesn’t affect the players on the roster, according to running back Frank Gore. Appearing on the Jim Rome Show, Gore said that he and his teammates “don’t even think about it.”
- At this point, there haven’t been any known communications or negotiations between the Rams and Kenny Britt‘s agent, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. However, the wideout, whose contract expires at season’s end, would like to stick with the Rams if he can. “Hopefully I can stay here after this season and be in this locker room,” Britt said. “It’s hard to put a team together like this in the locker room, with this chemistry.”
- As a result of his decision not to speak to reporters after Sunday’s loss against the Chiefs, Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch has been fined $100K by the league, as Ed Werder of ESPN.com details. The league will collect $50K for this incident, as well as a $50K fine for a previous violation, which had been held in abeyance in anticipation of Lynch’s future cooperation.
NFC West Notes: Dorsey, Gore, Cardinals
While the Seahawks couldn’t pull out a comeback win in Kansas City yesterday, it was a successful Sunday for the rest of the NFC West, with the Cardinals, Rams, and 49ers all notching impressive victories. In his look at players who improved their free agent stocks over the weekend, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap picks a player from each of those teams, identifying Cardinals cornerback Antonio Cromartie, Rams wideout Kenny Britt, and 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree as three players whose values got a bump after their respective performances on Sunday.
Here’s more from around the NFC West:
- The 49ers intend to activate defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey from off the injured reserve list this week, head coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters today, including Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.
- 49ers running back Frank Gore, who is in the final year of his contract, would like to return to the 49ers next season, but if that interest isn’t mutual, he’s intent on continuing his NFL career elsewhere, as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com outlines.
- Addressing the contract extension the team gave defensive coordinator Todd Bowles last week, Cardinals general manager Steve Keim said today that he and his staff want to be “proactive and aggressive” with all their decisions, which means locking up quality assistants. Keim recognizes that Bowles could still explore head coaching jobs this offseason, but says “it will take a special opportunity for him to leave us.” Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com has the quotes and the details from the GM’s appearance on Arizona Sports 98.7.
- Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch may be facing a $100K fine from the league, as Peter King explains in his latest MMQB column.
NFL In LA: Jaguars Staying Put
The Jaguars are staying put in Jacksonville and will not be heading to Los Angeles, writes Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. When former Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver sold the team to Shad Khan in 2011, there were rumors that the Jags could be on the move to the West Coast. However, Khan has quieted that talk, stating “Actions speak louder than words and [Jaguars fans are] finally seeing the actions match the talk.” Those actions, as O’Halloran points out, include Khan’s stated commitment to Jacksonville, a stadium lease that does not expire until 2030, and the $63MM in stadium enhancements that debuted in late July (Khan himself paid for $20MM of those enhancements).
But with NFL football apparently destined to remain in Jacksonville for the foreseeable future, rumors about the respective fates of the Rams, Chargers, and Raiders continue to swirl. As Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today writes, there could be as many as two spots available in Los Angeles, and each of the those three franchises “is driven by concerns that it could be stuck in its current market in an undesirable situation while the other two party up in their new shared palace.”
Of course, despite recent media reports that suggest the relocation of at least one franchise to Los Angeles is imminent, there are a number of obstacles to clear before that can happen, obstacles that Schrotenboer describes in great detail. One consideration that the league will take into account is the relative revenue gain it can anticipate from moving one or more teams to LA. San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the country, whereas Oakland and St. Louis are the 45th and 58th largest, respectively. As such, the league would have less to gain by a Chargers move than it would if the Rams or Raiders were to leave their current homes.
Nonetheless with the Jaguars essentially out of the picture, fans in St. Louis, Oakland, and San Diego have a little more reason for concern.
New Roadblocks For Los Angeles Move
Teams with interest in moving to the Los Angeles market have long been eyeing the available property at Inglewood’s Hollywood Park. However, the asking price is currently sky high and that could be another roadblock for the Raiders, Rams, and Chargers as they consider a possible move to the country’s No. 2 media market. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter links) hears that Terry Fancher of Stockbridge Capital has asked for $500MM+ for the valuable property. One source told Cole he asked for more than $600MM for the land at one point. That’s a steep price, especially when considering that he paid just $260MM for it in 2005.
Cole tweets that if the land is purchased for even ~$300MM, that has to be added to the cost of building a brand new stadium, which would likely cost $1.5 billion. Add in the relocation fee which could be as high as $500MM (link), and the Hollywood Park site becomes far less palatable than it appears to be on the surface. The Rams and Raiders have looked into HP, but the Chargers have yet to do so. The Raiders have circulated a proposal around the Inglewood area in hopes of getting financing for a stadium, but that is considered “iffy, at best,” according to Cole (Twitter links).
Meanwhile, Chargers exec Mark Fabiani tells Nick Canepa of U-T San Diego that while the club wants to stay in San Diego, it has been forced to remain open to other possibilities.
“For nearly 13 years now — a period in which San Diego has seen seven different mayors — the Chargers have explored every possible stadium issue locally, and we continue that work now with Mayor Faulconer,” Fabiani said. “At the same time, the Chargers are prepared to do whatever necessary to protect the 30 percent of the team’s local revenue that now comes from the Los Angeles and Orange County markets. “It would be economically devastating to the Chargers if one of those teams is allowed to return to the L.A. market while the Chargers are trapped in an aging and outmoded stadium in San Diego.”
NFC West Notes: Aldon Smith, Rams, Lynch
The Rams lost again yesterday, falling to 3-6 on the season and further deflating any long-shot playoff hopes they may have had. Things are getting interesting elsewhere in the NFC West though, with the Cardinals, Seahawks, and 49ers all picking up Week 10 victories. At 8-1, Arizona leads the way, but it looks as if the team will be without starting quarterback Carson Palmer the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, last year’s NFC Championship participants, Seattle and San Francisco, remain firmly in playoff contention, but don’t have an easy path to the postseason by any means. At the moment, the 7-3 Cowboys and 6-3 Seahawks project as the NFC’s Wild Card teams, with the 6-3 Packers and 5-4 49ers on the outside looking in.
Let’s round up a few items out of the NFC West to start the week….
- NFLPA executive VP George Atallah tells Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports that 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith “fulfilled all of his obligations to be considered to return from his suspension early.” However, the NFL elected not to reinstate Smith until he served his full nine-game suspension. Garafalo suggests we can expect to hear more on this issue this week, since Smith’s camp and the NFLPA aren’t pleased that the linebacker wasn’t reinstated a week or two early, as had been rumored.
- The Rams‘ defense came into yesterday’s game in Arizona thin at cornerback, and the club’s depth took another hit when nickel back Lamarcus Joyner left with a groin injury, writes Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see St. Louis make a roster move or two this week to shore up the position.
- It’s viewed as a fait accompli by some observers that Marshawn Lynch won’t be back with the Seahawks next season due to his age, contract, and possible off-field concerns, but performances like yesterday’s four-touchdown romp show how important he is to the club, says Larry Stone of the Seattle Times.
West Notes: LA, Aldon Smith, Chiefs, Cards
We learned late last night that Inglewood, California mayor James Butts had announced that he would meet with Rams owner Stan Kroenke, whose 60-acre patch of land in Inglewood (which is within Los Angeles county) has been rumored as a potential site for an NFL stadium. Butts declined to confirm if the Kroenke meeting has taken place, but sources tell Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com that Butts has spoken with executives from both the Rams and the Raiders. This news jives with a La Canfora report from last month which indicated that a team could be playing in Los Angeles as early as next season. Any club looking to relocate to southern California would need to declare its intention to move by mid-February, per La Canfora. Here’s more from the NFL’s two West divisions.
- 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith‘s suspension wasn’t reduced today after he failed to complete the counseling requirements attached to the ban, but the dynamic pass-rusher is facing even more bad news. Because of the multitude of salary and bonus forfeitures that go along with a suspension, Smith will effectively pay San Francisco to play in 2014, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). Smith will earn just 8/17 of his $1.099MM base salary, which amounts to $525K. He also forfeits $1.18MM in bonus money, meaning that he owes the 49ers $661K.
- The Chiefs believe they have satisfied the requirements to bid on a Super Bowl, owner Clark Hunt tells Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star. Kansas City has agreed to give up one home game to play in London at some point in the near future, a stipulation for Super Bowl hosting hopefuls that NFL owners recently agreed to.
- In his latest mailbag at ESPN.com, Josh Weinfuss sees a possibility that the Cardinals could add a power back, such as Ryan Mathews or Mark Ingram, during the offseason to pair with Andre Ellington. If backup Marion Grice impresses over the second half of the season, however, he could fill that role in 2015.
Rory Parks contributed to this post.
NFC Notes: Suh, Seahawks, Rams, Vikings
The Lions boast one of the top defenses in football this year, based on the strength of their defensive line. Where they are particularly strong is the interior of that line. However, the team has a dilemma on their hands this coming offseason, with Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley, and C.J. Mosley all hitting free agency at the same time. The team will have a hard time projecting their personnel at defensive tackle in 2015, but Kyle Meinke of MLive.com puts the odds on re-signing Suh at 51%. He notes that while Suh is intent on reaching free agency, that he will accept the largest offer and that the Lions would be most inclined to give it to him.
Here are some other notes from around the NFC:
- Percy Harvin is the most recent defending champion to leave the Seahawks, but he is far from the only one. Of the 72 players that were on the active roster, practice squad, and injured reserve for last year’s Super Bowl, 25 of them have moved on from the team, with 13 of them stationed on active rosters around the league. Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times takes a look at these 13 players and how they have fared since switching teams.
- Rams‘ owner Stan Kroenke owns 60 acres of land in Inglewood, California, which has been rumored to be potential land for an arena for a Los Angeles based team. While neither the team nor the city has mentioned anything definitive about the move, Inglewood mayor James Butts announced that he would have a meeting with Kronke, according to Doug Vaughn of KMOV.com.
- This will not be the first time the mayor has met with Rams‘ owner Kroenke, as Jason Cole of BleacherReport tweeted that the two sides have already met a couple of times (via Twitter).
- No general manager in the NFL hits a home run on 100% of his decisions, writes Matt Vensel of the Minnesota Star-Tribune. While that may be the case, he writes that Vikings‘ general manager Rick Spielman has been pretty close. Vensel looks through the immediate effectiveness of a number of the team’s signings and draft picks, such as Everson Griffen, Matt Cassel, Linval Joseph, Captain Munnerlyn, Anthony Barr, Teddy Bridgewater, and Jerick McKinnon.
Teams With Most Salary On Injured Reserve
On Friday, we took a look at the league’s highest-paid players to land on season-ending injured reserve. As I explained in that post, teams have control over how they use their cap space, but have little control over players’ injuries, so if highly-paid players end up on injured reserve, clubs may have limited flexibility to adequately replace them.
The next logical step then is to examine which teams have been the hit the hardest overall by season-ending injuries this year. Of course, a player’s cap number doesn’t necessarily reflect his importance – many of the league’s best players are underpaid – but when clubs devote significant chunks of their cap room to certain players, having those guys go down with injuries can be hard to overcome.
Listed below are the 14 teams who currently have more than $10MM in player salaries on season-ending injured reserve. Players who received the designation to return when they were placed on IR aren’t taken into account here, since those players could still contribute this season. Additionally, players on practice squad IR lists aren’t included, and cap numbers rather than base salaries are considered when adding up a team’s total IR cap hit. Here’s the top 14:
- St. Louis Rams: $30,605,636 (seven players)
- New York Giants: $22,033,726 (12)
- Oakland Raiders: $21,844,733 (8)
- Washington: $15,984,975 (7)
- Tennessee Titans: $15,202,696 (7)
- Atlanta Falcons: $14,885,479 (7)
- Jacksonville Jaguars: $14,617,538 (10)
- Arizona Cardinals: $14,230,500 (4)
- Philadelphia Eagles: $12,858,000 (5)
- Miami Dolphins: $12,567,956 (8)
- Chicago Bears: $11,210,500 (4)
- Cleveland Browns: $11,147,375 (4)
- Dallas Cowboys: $11,121,121 (7)
- San Diego Chargers: $10,316,892 (7)
So is there any correlation between a team’s “dead money” on the injured reserve list and its record? On the whole, the 13 clubs on this list combine for a 52-65 record thus far, which isn’t great. However, it gets a whole lot worse when we separate the top half from the bottom half — the first seven teams on this list have combined for an incredibly dismal 14-44 record.
Would some of those teams have been cellar-dwellers even without injury problems? Most likely. It’s hard to imagine a team like the Raiders, for instance, as even a .500 squad if they’d stayed completely healthy. Still, a few of those clubs were expected to compete for playoff spots, and the fact that they’ve fallen well out of contention likely has at least something to do with how much of their cap space is currently being devoted to players who aren’t actually playing.
Information from Over The Cap was used in the creation of this post.