Pats Acquire Asante Cleveland From 49ers
11:21am: The 49ers got a player from the Patriots in the deal, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, who tweets that offensive lineman Jordan Devey is headed to San Francisco in the swap.
11:07am: The Patriots, always on the lookout for tight ends, have added a new one from the 49ers, according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com, who reports that San Francisco has traded Asante Cleveland to New England. The return for the Niners isn’t known, but it’s hard to imagine the team getting more than a late-round pick, perhaps one that’s contingent on Cleveland making the Pats’ roster.
Maiocco reported earlier today (via Twitter) that the 49ers had been getting calls from teams interesting in trading for a tight end, with those clubs targeting Cleveland and Derek Carrier in particular. Even after moving Cleveland, the Niners may decide to trade another tight end, since the team is still carrying seven players at the position.
With Rob Gronkowski and Scott Chandler heading a depth chart that already featured six tight ends prior to the acquisition of Cleveland, the Patriots have no shortage of players at the position either. However, we’ve seen the New England offense put a strong emphasis on tight end play in recent years, so it makes sense that the club would want to stockpile as much talent and upside there as possible. In Cleveland, the Pats are getting a player who spent time on the 49ers’ roster and practice squad last year, and has yet to record his first NFL catch.
Meanwhile, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (Twitter link) hears from a source that the Patriots are cutting linebacker L.J. Fort today. We’ll have to wait for the official announcement on both transactions, but it looks as if Fort’s release could be the corresponding move for the acquisition of Cleveland.
East Notes: Brady, Cooley, RGIII, Eli, Manuel
Multiple reporters in attendance at Patriots‘ practice today have indicated that Tom Brady is absent, and Tom Pelissero of USA Today offers a likely explanation, tweeting that Brady plans to attend tomorrow’s federal court hearing in New York. The session in Judge Richard M. Berman’s courtroom is optional for Brady and commissioner Roger Goodell, but the fact that the Patriots quarterback will attend in person could score him some points with Judge Berman.
As we wait to see what – if anything – comes of tomorrow’s hearing on the Brady case, let’s check in on several more items from around the NFL’s two East divisions….
- Former Washington tight end Chris Cooley admits he is “literally begging” to join his old team, explaining that he has offered to play on “the most minimum deal possible” if Washington signs him, per J.J. Regan of CSNWashington.com. Cooley’s proposal to Washington includes no bonuses or incentives, no guaranteed money, and a promise that he’d give $50K of his salary to charity.
- Robert Griffin III is currently under contract through the 2016 season, but he’d like to remain in Washington beyond that, telling CSNWashington’s Chick Hernandez that he hopes to stay with the club for his “whole career.”
- Despite John Mara‘s comments about wanting to get Eli Manning locked up to an extension before the season begins, there’s no rush or deadline for the Giants, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com, who writes that a new deal will happen sooner or later. We heard yesterday that Manning wants to become the league’s highest-paid player, and while that was met with disbelief by some, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explains why it’s not as outrageous as you might think.
- As he competes for the starting job in Buffalo, quarterback E.J. Manuel acknowledges that his days with the Bills may be numbered if he doesn’t earn that No. 1 role, writes John Wawrow of The Associated Press. Wawrow suggests that Manuel is behind both Tyrod Taylor and Matt Cassel in the race for the Bills’ starting job, but the former first-round pick remains confident in his NFL future. “At the end of the day, if I play well, it should take care of itself,” Manuel said. “Whether it’s here or whether it’s somewhere else, I don’t know.”
La Canfora’s Latest: Washington, Jets, Brown
Within his latest piece for CBSSports.com, Jason La Canfora praises the “honest, slow, and steady approach” that new GM Scot McCloughan is taking to building the Washington roster. In La Canfora’s view, McCloughan is a “pure departure” from most of the decision-makers who have preceded him during Daniel Snyder‘s tenure as the team’s owner.
While we wait to see whether McCloughan’s approach translates into on-field success in Washington, let’s round up a few more highlights from La Canfora’s piece….
- With training camps and the preseason in full swing, injuries have begun to take a toll around the league. According to La Canfora, many teams are scrambling to find healthy offensive tackles and tight ends, since those are two positions where clubs have been hit the hardest by injuries. As I noted last week when I examined some possible tight end options for Washington, the free agent market at the position is pretty thin.
- La Canfora has heard a lot recently about the kind of money some left tackles have been seeking, calling it “crazy, quarterback money.” The CBSSports.com scribe wouldn’t be surprised if players like Trent Williams (Washington) and Nate Solder (Patriots) ultimately get the franchise tag rather than signing extensions right away.
- The Jets are taking their time to consider possible quarterbacks, and one reason is that the team has interest in some veteran signal-callers who may be cut within the next few weeks.
- Despite reports to the contrary, there have been no contract talks between the Steelers and Antonio Brown, sources tell La Canfora. With three years left on his deal, the wideout won’t get a new contract this year, but may be able to revisit the issue in 2016.
East Notes: Powell, Giants, Eli, Brady
Earlier today, the Bills added another one of Rex Ryan‘s ex-Jets, signing cornerback Ellis Lankster to their roster. That’s just one of today’s stories out of the East though, so let’s round up the latest from around the league’s two East divisions….
- Ty Powell, who was a reserve linebacker and a special teams contributor for the Bills last season, may have a torn ACL, Ryan said today (Twitter link via Joe Buscaglia of WKBW). If that diagnosis is confirmed, it would end Powell’s season.
- There’s still a chance that the Giants could pursue a free agent offensive lineman like Jake Long or Evan Mathis, tweets Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. However, as Graziano suggests, it’s not as simple as making a contract offer, since there are concerns about Long’s health and Mathis’ asking price.
- With Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers having signed new contracts this offseason, a pair of New York reporters believe the other notable quarterback from the 2004 draft class should get an extension of his own. Steve Serby of the New York Post and Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News both make cases for why Giants signal-caller Eli Manning should get a new deal before the season begins.
- Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explains why Patriots quarterback Tom Brady shouldn’t sue investigator Ted Wells for defamation, like former Dolphins offensive line coach Jim Turner is doing.
- Before the Cowboys break training camp, owner Jerry Jones has several objectives he’d like to see the team meet, including deciding how to proceed on defense without Greg Hardy and Rolando McClain early in the season. David Moore of the Dallas Morning News has the details.
Latest On DeflateGate
While most hope the fight between the NFL and the NFL Players Association regarding Tom Brady’s DeflateGate case will conclude prior to the season, it doesn’t appear likely. Attorneys for both the league and Brady requested a verdict from US district judge Richard Berman on Brady’s lawsuit by Sept. 4, according to the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin, but his decision probably won’t be the end of it.
Berman encouraged both sides to reach a settlement last week, saying, “The average life of a suit with appeal is two years, not two months. I think it’s fair to say that no one here wants to wait that long.”
Unfortunately, though, an appeal seems inevitable because neither side has shown a willingness to move from their respective stances. The league – which originally handed Brady a four-game suspension in May – wants the quarterback to sit at least one game, but Brady won’t accept anything more than a fine.
Should Berman’s decision end up in Brady’s favor, he’ll be permitted to play immediately. However, a subsequent appeal to the Second Court from the league might spell disaster for him in the future. If the Second Court rules in favor of the league, Brady could end up missing time later in the regular season or, worse, the playoffs. The chance of that happening is slim, though, as Volin notes that the appeals process moves slowly and likely wouldn’t be completed during the upcoming season.
If Berman sides with the league, on the other hand, Brady will ask Berman for a motion to stay the suspension pending appeal, per Volin. If that fails, Brady will opt for a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order from the Second Circuit. That would enable him to play until his appeal is heard.
Regardless of what ultimately happens, DeflateGate has owned headlines for months and could cast a pall over the upcoming season. Some owners across the league have grown weary of it, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote Sunday, and are hoping the two sides reach a settlement soon. Conversely, Florio reports that certain “hard-core, old-school owners” don’t want the league to budge because it would mean conceding power to the NFLPA. Bad blood between the owners and the union is a key reason DeflateGate will continue to be a dominant story.
East Notes: Carr, G. Smith, IK, Brady
After having surgery on Monday to repair a broken bone in his hand, Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr seems to be pleased with both the operation and the state of his health. “If I had to play today, you wouldn’t even know I was hurt,” Carr told Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “It feels all right. Not much discomfort, not much pain right now, it’s just the healing process. It hurts more that I’m not out there with the guys. I got to take care of business, take care what’s necessary with myself.” Though neither Carr nor head coach Jason Garrett would provide a timetable on the corner’s return, it sounds as if he’s likely to suit up for Week 1.
Here’s more from the NFL’s East divisions…
- Jets quarterback Geno Smith was released from the hospital yesterday, according to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Smith, of course, suffered a broken jaw after being punched by IK Enemkpali and is expected to miss six-to-ten weeks.
- Speaking of Enemkpali, Ben Shpigel of the New York Times provides an interesting profile of the former Jets (and current Bills) linebacker, adding a few more details on the infamous incident. Per Shpigel, Enemkpali not only was stiffed by Smith for $600, but repeatedly was the butt of teammates’ jokes over his failure to get reimbursed.
- Ben Volin of the Boston Globe offers his take on the Smith/Enemkpali incident, the new-look Bills, and the Patriots‘ signing of backup quarterback Ryan Lindley, who has studied with the same QBs coach employed by Jimmy Garoppolo.
- In a separate article, Volin argues that a settlement between the NFL and the NFLPA in the Tom Brady case is unlikely, noting that not only is money not a motivating factor (as it is in most arbitration cases), but each party has too much to lose PR-wise.
East Rumors: Giants, Taylor, Rex, Patriots
The Giants‘ already-thin secondary worsened after their first preseason clash on Friday, with four defensive backs lost to injuries.
While Landon Collins‘ leg injury is considered minor, fellow rookie safety Mykkele Thompson‘s is not. The 2015 fifth-rounder is expected to miss the rest of the season after what is believed to be an Achilles’ tendon tear, according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post.
“Big concern” is the phrase Tom Coughlin used in describing Thompson’s outlook. Thompson represented much-needed depth for Big Blue’s back line, making his way onto the Giants’ second team at strong safety behind converted cornerback Bennett Jackcson. Sixth-year veteran Jeromy Miles resides as the Giants’ third-string strong safety presently.
Jayron Hosley and Trumaine McBride also left the game, but their setbacks aren’t expected to be regular-season-altering.
As the first full weekend of 2015 NFL action continues, let’s look at some news coming out of the Eastern divisions, continuing in Buffalo.
- Tyrod Taylor‘s push for becoming the least-likely Week 1 starting quarterback in the league received a boost after his Bills debut, with Rex Ryan announcing the former Virginia Tech product will start in Buffalo’s next preseason game — Thursday against the Browns — per Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. While this comes in an attempt to give the one-time sixth-round pick a shot against a starting defense, as Taylor flashed his “excellent” speed against the Panthers’ second-stringers, it doesn’t cement a Taylor ascent. Matt Cassel started in the Bills’ first preseason tilt, with EJ Manuel doing so in the team’s intrasquad scrimmage.
- Ryan saw his exit from New Jersey coming entering his sixth and final season there, according to an upcoming Real Sports segment with Andrea Kremer (per Brian Costello of the New York Post), with the current Bills coach knowing the Jets were going to “stink” after not doing much in free agency last year. “100 percent I knew I was done,” Ryan told Kremer. “… (Jets owner Woody Johnson) couldn’t [keep me]. There’s no chance that he could have brought in another GM and kept me again. It wouldn’t have worked in New York, they weren’t going to allow it. The media wouldn’t allow it; it wasn’t going to work.“
- Many NFL owners will be upset if Roger Goodell loses in the Deflategate saga, offers CSNNE.com’s Gary Tanguay. “I think this is personal,” Tanguay said. “I think there are some owners, for whatever reason, want to get at Robert Kraft and the Patriots organization. I think they sent Goodell to be their whipping boy. The way the NFL has looked so far, they’ve looked so bad even though I think the Patriots are guilty, if Goodell loses this, he will take heat from the owners.”
NFLPA Issues Motion In Brady Case
As lawyers for both the NFL and NFLPA continued to meet in New York earlier today to discuss Tom Brady‘s appeal, the union has issued an opposition to the league’s Brady motion. The 19-page document is available here, and Sports Illustrated legal expert Michael McCann has been providing his analysis via Twitter.
The documents levies specific charges at investigator Ted Wells, noting that Wells said Brady would not punished for not disclosing his text messages. Furthermore, the filing highlights that Wells did indicate that the analysis of halftime PSI measurements was based on “uncertain” data, per McCann.
Per McCann, the new filing is “the most direct attack on [Roger] Goodell yet,” opining that because the memo is so scathing, the chances of a settlement between the two parties no appear slim. Furthermore, says McCann, the NFL appears to have lost the public relations battle, arguing that even if a judge rules in the league’s favor, one “could argue that Goodell has already lost DeflateGate.”
Indeed, in perhaps the harshest language used by either side during the entire squabble, the NFLPA’s filing calls the Wells report “a propaganda piece written for public consumption…to validate a multi-million-dollar ‘independent’ investigation.”
More Minor NFL Transactions: 8/14/15
Earlier in the day, we rounded up several of Friday’s minor transactions from around the NFL, but there have been a number of moves since then. Here’s the latest:
- The Broncos have claimed punter Spencer Lanning off waivers from the Buccaneers, increasing their roster to the maximum 90 players, tweets Mike Klis of 9News. For Lanning, who can also handle kickoffs, it’s the second time this offseason he has been claimed off waivers — the Bucs snatched him up in June after he was cut by Cleveland.
- Defensive tackle Casey Walker has rejoined the Patriots, the team with which he saw the most action last season, the club announced today in a press release. According to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald (Twitter link), after being cut by the Ravens earlier this month, Walker visited the Pats and Rams and received interest from other clubs as well.
- Washington has swapped one linebacker for another, waiving Trevardo Williams and signing Sage Harold, tweets Mike Jones of the Washington Post. Williams, who’s dealing with a hamstring issue, will revert to the team’s injured reserve list if he clears waivers.
- The following players have been removed from their respective teams’ IR lists with injury settlements, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (all Twitter links): WR Caleb Holley (Bills), DB Shamiel Gary (Dolphins), and LB Quinton Alston (Buccaneers).
- After being waived/injured by the Steelers earlier this week, running back Cameron Stingily is now on the team’s IR, tweets Wilson.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/13/15
Today’s minor signings, cuts, and other moves from around the NFL..
- The Buccaneers announced today that they’ve waived punter Spencer Lanning, as Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com tweets. In 2014, only two punters had more attempts than the 93 punts Lanning made for the Browns. However, Lanning’s performance wasn’t great, so Cleveland cut him after trading for Andy Lee in June, at which point he was claimed by the Bucs. Today’s move leaves Tampa Bay with two punters still on the roster.
- The Falcons announced that they’ve waived rookie safety Damian Parms, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com tweets.
- Defensive back Ryan White has re-signed with the Packers, as Weston Hodkiewicz of the Press Gazette tweets. White was in camp with Green Bay last summer.
- The Bills removed Justin Brown from the injured reserve with an injury settlement, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Wilson adds (via Twitter) that the Titans did the same thing with safety Cody Prewitt, removing him from their roster.
- The 49ers have also waived a player with an injury settlement, cutting offensive lineman Ben Gottschalk from their IR, tweets Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com.
- The following players landed on their respective teams’ injured reserve lists after clearing waivers, per Wilson (Twitter link): DT Ricky Havili-Heimuli (Falcons), TE Clay Burton (Bills), WR Caleb Holley (Bills), DT Chris Whaley (Cowboys), CB Jason Wilson (Cowboys), and RB Tyler Gaffney (Patriots).
Luke Adams contributed to this post.