Patriots Make Practice Squad Move
- The Patriots signed offensive lineman Ian Silberman to their practice squad and cut tackle Clay DeBord from the 10-man unit, via NESN.com’s Doug Kyed (Twitter links).
Poll: Who Will Win The AFC East?
Of all the NFL’s divisions, the AFC East has offered the least in terms of parity during the 2010s. Every other NFL division has featured at least two teams claiming a title and this one still features a Patriots team that will deploy the Bill Belichick–Tom Brady duo for a large chunk of the season.
[RELATED: PFR’s Impact Rookies Series]
The Patriots have won seven straight AFC East crowns and 13 of the past 16. New England is set to return its 39-year-old future Hall of Fame quarterback in Week 5, where he’ll again team with one of the best tight ends in NFL history. Still, Rob Gronkowski has yet to make his 2016 debut yet and the Pats still have questions on defense due to injuries, suspensions, and the trade of Chandler Jones. However, the Jimmy Garoppolo-led outfit still showed enough to beat one of the league’s best teams in Week 1 despite a host of key inactives.
Both the Jets and Dolphins upset the Patriots last season to deprive them of home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs, and each played a returning playoff team close in Week 1. Last season’s second-place finisher, the Jets bring back arguably the best defensive line in football and, after some arduous negotiations, they have Ryan Fitzpatrick back on the other side of the ball.
The most recent non-Patriots division champion (in 2008), the Dolphins continue their first season under offensive wunderkind Adam Gase with a trip to Massachusetts on Sunday. The Fins haven’t made the playoffs since that ’08 campaign but added veterans in Arian Foster and Mario Williams, and drafted once-projected No. 1 pick Laremy Tunsil in Round 1.
Despite finishing with at least eight wins the past two seasons, the Bills own the longest playoff drought in football at 17 years. Their offseason extension for Tyrod Taylor and re-signing of Richie Incognito became overshadowed by a host of suspensions, injuries, and cuts.
So, in advance of the AFC East’s first matchups, who will win the division this season?
Who Will Win The AFC East?
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New England Patriots 76% (1,274)
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New York Jets 14% (240)
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Miami Dolphins 7% (125)
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Buffalo Bills 2% (35)
Total votes: 1,674
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
PFR’s Impact Rookies Series
All summer long, longtime scouting consultant Dave-Te Thomas of The NFL Draft Report has been breaking down the draft class of every team in the league and identifying the players that can immediately make a difference. The Impact Rookies series, which wrapped up today with a look at the Seahawks, provides unique insight to this year’s NFL freshman class from a veteran guru who worked closely with several teams around the league leading up to the draft.
Here is the full rundown of the Impact Rookies series:
AFC East
AFC North
AFC South
AFC West
NFC East
NFC North
NFC South
NFC West
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/14/16
Here are Wednesday’s practice squad moves from around the NFL:
Chicago Bears
- Signed: DL Jimmy Staten (Twitter link via Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com)
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: WR Josh Boyce (Twitter link via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal)
New England Patriots
- Signed: WR DeAndrew White (Twitter link via Doug Kyed of NESN)
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: DE Jimmy Bean (Twitter link via Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com)
- Cut: LB Curtis Grant
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: WR Chris Harper (Twitter link via Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: DT Rodney Coe (Twitter link via Roy Cummings of WFLA)
Washington Redskins
- Signed: C Austin Reiter (Twitter link via Mike Jones of the Washington Post)
Opinion: Should Pats Trade Garoppolo?
Should the Patriots trade quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo if the option arises next offseason? Doug Kyed of NESN.com looks at all of the Patriots’ options for their young quarterback and reasonably concludes that no team could meet the high asking price that the Pats would put on him. The Pats already have a franchise QB in Tom Brady, but Garoppolo is 15 years younger and its obviously hard to find quality players at the position. Looking ahead, Garoppolo will be eligible for free agency after the 2017 season. The Patriots could, in theory, discuss an extension with him before that point, but it’d be a tough sell unless he was assured a starting job at some point and given starting money.
Patriots Work Out Four Players
- The Patriots worked out four players today, according to ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss (via Twitter): WR Anthony Dable, DE Ryan Russell, OL Ian Silberman, DE Davis Tull. Dable is an interesting inclusion, as the 27-year-old has spent much of his professional career playing in the German Football League.
[SOURCE LINK]
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/13/16
Here are Tuesday’s practice squad signings and cuts from around the NFL:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: RB Blake Sims (link via Matt Zenitz of AL.com)
- Cut: RB Gus Johnson (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle)
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: WR Marquis Bundy (via team announcement)
- Cut: WR Chris Hubert (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle)
Chicago Bears
- Signed: RB/KR Raheem Mostert (Twitter link via agent Brett Tessler)
- Cut: RB Senorise Perry (Twitter link via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune), OL Laurence Gibson (Twitter link via Biggs)
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: CB Sammy Seamster (Twitter link via Todd Archer of ESPN.com)
Denver Broncos
- Signed: LB Reshard Cliett (Twitter link via Wilson)
- Cut: LB Kyle Kragen (Twitter link via Cameron Wolfe of The Denver Post)
Indianapolis Colts:
- Signed: CB Tay Glover-Wright (Twitter link via Wilson), S Lee Hightower (Twitter link via Wilson)
- Cut: DT Kelcy Quarles, OL Adam Redmond (Twitter link via Wilson)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Cut: WR Shaq Evans (Twitter link via Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com)
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: CB Tre Roberson, CB Julian Wilson (via team announcement)
- Cut: OT Carter Bykowski, S Shamiel Gary (via team announcement)
New England Patriots
- Cut: DB Mike Hilton (Twitter link via Doug Kyed of NESN.com)
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: CB Taveze Calhoun (Twitter link via Joel A. Erickson of The Advocate), TE Jake Stoneburner (Twitter link via Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com)
- Cut: FB Austin Johnson (Twitter link via Nick Underhill of The Times-Picayune), DE Bobby Richardson (Twitter link via Erickson)
New York Giants
- Signed: LB Deontae Skinner
- Cut: QB Logan Thomas (Twitter link via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY)
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: OT Takoby Cofield (Twitter link via reps at Precision Sports)
- Cut: LB Jason Fanaika (Twitter link via Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com)
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: QB Aaron Murray (via team announcement)
- Cut: WR Marcus Johnson, TE M.J. McFarland (injury settlement, Twitter link via Wilson)
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: DE Tylor Harris (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle), QB Jake Heaps (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times), OL Michael Ola (Twitter link via Condotta)
- Cut: WR Kasen Williams (Twitter link via Condotta), DT Justin Hamilton (Twitter link via Condotta) and WE Rodney Smith (Twitter link via Condotta)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: LB Cameron Lynch (Twitter link via Roy Cummings of WFLA News Channel 8), DT Rodney Coe (Twitter link via Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times)
- Cut: RB Russell Hansbrough (Twitter link via Auman)
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: QB Alex Tanney (Twitter link via Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com)
- Cut: OL Ronald Patrick
Washington Redskins
- Cut: OL Nila Kasitati (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s John Keim)
Patriots Planning For 2017 Free Agency?
- The Patriots‘ clearing out $2.8MM in cap space thanks to Devin McCourty‘s restructure will help them retain their key defenders playing on expiring contracts, Doug Kyed of NESN.com writes. An in-season extension for impending UFA Dont’a Hightower, thus lowering his $7.75MM 2016 cap hit, would be a way to help the Patriots sign both 2017 UFA Jamie Collins and RFA Malcolm Butler, Kyed offers. New England possesses more than $11MM in cap space for 2016 and stands to possess more than $60MM come 2017. Jabaal Sheard, Logan Ryan and Sebastian Vollmer join Hightower and Collins as key UFAs for the seven-time defending AFC East champions.
Patriots Extend Ninkovich, Restructure McCourty
The Patriots have signed suspended and injured defensive end Rob Ninkovich to a one-year extension, as Ben Volin of The Boston Globe tweets. Ninkovich is now effectively playing on a two-year, $4.27MM deal, and the extension will save him approximately $117K in suspension-related fines. Ninkovich, already slated to miss several weeks to start the season after suffering a torn triceps injury, was suspended four games earlier this month for a violation of the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
Ninkovich has been a boon to the New England pass rush during his tenure with the club, racking up at least 6.5 sacks per year since the 2011 season. The extension therefore helps the club ease some of the financial strains Ninkovich will face as a result of his suspension while keeping one of its more important defensive players under club control for 2017 at a reasonable rate.
The Patriots also restructured Devin McCourty‘s contract on Friday, according to Volin (via Twitter). The team converted $3.74MM of McCourty’s base salary into a signing bonus, thereby creating $2.8MM of cap space in 2016. As a result, Volin tweets, the team adds a fairly palatable $935K to McCourty’s cap number for each of the 2017-19 seasons.
McCourty signed a five-year $47.5MM deal last March as the top safety on the free agent market, but he started his professional career as a corner. The Rutgers product excelled at that position in 2010, his rookie season, grading as the league’s seventh-best CB that year, per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. However, even though he remained effective against the run in 2011, his coverage grade lagged and he dropped to 57th on PFF’s cornerback rankings.
In 2012, therefore, he began splitting his snaps between corner and safety, and he was named an All-Pro safety in 2013. He has remained a stalwart at that position ever since. Prior to reworking the contract, the Patriots had a little more than $6.5MM in cap room (per OverTheCap.com), so they did not necessarily need to create more space, but the move does give the club a bit more of an operating budget for 2016.
Ninkovich will have a cap hit of $4.77MM this season after this new deal, giving the experienced Patriot a $367K increase from the previous ’16 figure, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reports. As for 2017, Ninkovich’s cap hit will be $2.25MM ($1MM base salary). The deal includes a $400K roster bonus ($25K per game), according to Howe. Ninkovich’s $1MM base for 2017 is guaranteed.
All in all, Ninkovich can earn up to $3.5MM in new money as a result of this extension, which Howe reports was signed on Monday. He’ll receive a $1.5MM signing bonus as well.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Rob Gronkowski To Miss Week 1
Tight end Rob Gronkowski, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury, did not accompany the Patriots on their trip to Arizona on Friday, reports Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal (Twitter link). That means Gronkowski will not play Sunday against the Cardinals, according to Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com (via Twitter). Gronkowski’s absence will leave New England’s offense without its two best players (quarterback Tom Brady is suspended) as the Jimmy Garoppolo-led club goes on the road to face one of the NFL’s premier teams.