East Notes: T. Williams, Jets, Cowboys, Wayne
Washington offensive tackle Trent Williams isn’t worrying about his contract situation, focusing instead on giving Washington “one of the best years of my career” in the final season of his current deal, as he tells John Keim of ESPN.com.
Keim suggests that if the two sides don’t reach an agreement on an extension, the franchise tag will be an option for Washington, but Williams’ cap hit this year is $14.23MM, so franchising him would mean committing to a salary north of $17MM for 2016. As such, it’s in Washington’s best interest to work out a longer-term arrangement, and Williams should have plenty of leverage in those negotiations.
Let’s round up a few more notes from out of the NFL’s East divisions…
- Speaking today to reporters, including Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter links), Osi Umenyiora said he got an offer from a team yesterday, but didn’t want to continue his career if he wasn’t playing for the Giants. According to Garafolo, the Jets contacted Umenyiora yesterday, but didn’t make a formal contract offer — they were just checking to see whether he was really retiring. The veteran pass rusher paid an informal visit to the Jets earlier this year.
- Although an earlier report suggested the Cowboys were poking around for cornerback help, Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets that the team has no plans to add a corner in the wake of Orlando Scandrick‘s ACL injury. I’d expect the Cowboys to keep an eye on defensive backs who are cut next week, but it doesn’t sound like the club is in the market for a starter at all.
- Field Yates of ESPN.com passes along some specific details on Reggie Wayne‘s one-year contract with the Patriots, tweeting that the wideout will earn a base salary of $1.1MM to go along with a $450K signing bonus. The pact also features $750K in per-game roster bonuses, plus additional bonuses if Wayne reaches 55 receptions ($250K) and 65 receptions (another $250K).
NFC Notes: Giants, Cowboys, Lions, Saints
The Giants were the NFL’s most-injured team in 2013 and 2014, and the club has already had 22 players sidelined by injury this summer, according to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post, who suggests Tom Coughlin‘s job could ultimately be in jeopardy if the team’s health issues lead to another underwhelming season.
One key Giants player who missed most of last season due to injury is currently on the shelf this year as well, and Coughlin acknowledges that he’s starting to worry about Victor Cruz‘s availability for Week 1. The receiver is battling a calf issue.
“I’m concerned, yeah, I am” Coughlin said, per Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. “But I would like to see him get out there, and be able to stay out there. That’s what our real intent is. As soon as that can be done, that’s possible, then that’s what will happen.”
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- Following Orlando Scandrick‘s season-ending ACL injury, the Cowboys are in the market for cornerbacks, says Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). Per Cole, the team isn’t necessarily looking for a starter, but would like to add depth to an increasingly thin position.
- Before trading him to the Patriots, the Lions actually heard from four teams that were interested in offensive tackle Michael Williams, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. As Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com observes, the Williams deal continues a trend for GM Martin Mayhew, who has acquired late-round draft compensation for a handful of players within the last few months.
- The Saints will have some decisions to make when it comes to their defensive line, and Evan Woodbery of the Times-Picayune examines some of the players who are on the roster bubble and who could hit waivers next week.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Osi Umenyiora Retires As A Giant
AUGUST 26, 9:00am: Umenyiora has officially announced his retirement, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com.
AUGUST 24, 1:44pm: Umenyiora will officially announce his retirement prior to the Giants’ Wednesday practice, according to Vacchiano (via Twitter).
JULY 27, 1:48pm: According to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News (via Twitter), Umenyiora will sign a one-day contract with the Giants “soon” in order to officially retire with the team.
1:37pm: Veteran pass rusher Osi Umenyiora hasn’t drawn a ton of interest on the free agent market this offseason, and it sounds as if the former Giant may return to his old team on a ceremonial contract before he retires. According to Adam Caplan and Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (Twitter link), the Giants and Umenyiora are discussing the possibility of a one-day contract for the 33-year-old, so he can retire as a Giant.
Umenyiora, selected in the second round of the 2003 draft by the Giants, has spent most of his NFL career in New York, playing a key role on the team’s two Super Bowl-winning squads in 2007 and 2011. The Troy product earned a pair of Pro Bowl nods, and had three seasons of double-digit sacks between 2005 and 2010. Umenyiora joined the Falcons for the 2013 season and played a part-time role in Atlanta, recording total 10 total sacks over the last two seasons.
Giants co-owner John Mara suggested back in March that he’d like to see Umenyiora retire as a Giant, though at the time I assumed that would mean signing him for perhaps one more year, rather than just one day. It’s not clear whether or not Umenyiora wants to continue his career, but even with Jason Pierre-Paul‘s status still up in the air, it doesn’t look like the veteran free agent will be joining the Giants for the 2015 season.
Hakeem Nicks, James Jones Drawing Interest
According to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link), Hakeem Nicks, James Jones, Deonte Thompson, and Vincent Brown are among the wide receivers drawing interest around the NFL as potential release candidates, in that order. He adds that the Panthers, Ravens, Packers are a few of the teams considering adding wideouts as the season draws near.
The Panthers, of course, are in the market for a reliable target after Kelvin Benjamin suffered a season-ending injury. The Ravens could also use a receiver with promising rookie Breshad Perriman currently sidelined. And the Packers are undoubtedly scouring the market for options now that Jordy Nelson is confirmed to be done for the 2015 season. While sources tell Cole that Nicks will generally get the most attention of this quartet, the Packers are more interested in Jones that the rest of the bunch, due in part to their familiarity with him.
Nicks, 27, first reached unrestricted free agency in March 2014, and signed a modest one-year contract with the Colts after spending the first five seasons of his NFL career with the Giants. While fellow 2009 first-round wideout Jeremy Maclin parlayed a one-year, prove-it deal in 2014 into a huge, long-term contract, Nicks was unable to do the same in Indianapolis. Currently, Nicks is on a one-year deal with the Titans that holds a modest guarantee and he could be days away from hitting the open market again.
Jones had 73 catches for 666 yards and six touchdowns last season with the Raiders in 2014. This offseason, the veteran hooked on with the Giants and it has been widely speculated that he could be released before the final rosters are set. His best individual output came in 2013, when he hauled in 64 passes for 784 yards and a career-best 14 TDs for the Packers.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/24/15
Here are Monday’s minor signings, cuts, and other transactions from around the NFL:
- The Patriots waived Brian Tyms, who will revert to their IR (foot injury) if he goes unclaimed, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets.
Earlier Updates:
- The Lions waived/injured linebacker Kevin Snyder, Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com tweets.
- The Bears made a change on their offensive line today, signing former Raiders guard Lucas Nix to a one-year contract and waiving offensive lineman Jason Weaver with an injury designation (Twitter link). Nix, who started 10 games for Oakland in 2013, worked out for Chicago earlier in the month.
- The Dolphins have waived wide receiver Michael Preston, the team announced today (via Twitter). Preston himself broke word of the move yesterday, with a tweet thanking the club for the opportunity.
- The Eagles have added one safety to their roster and removed another, signing Brandan Bishop and reaching an injury settlement with Earl Wolff (Twitter links via agent David Canter and Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer). Wolff, a 2013 fifth-round pick, will become a free agent as he recovers from his knee surgery. The Eagles also waived/injured defensive tackle Wade Keliikipi, who suffered a Lisfranc foot injury this weekend, replacing him with defensive tackle Jeremy Towns (Twitter links).
- The Falcons have parted ways with 2014 fifth-rounder Marquis Spruill, placing him on waivers today, according to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Spruill, whose rookie season was wiped out by a torn ACL, never played a regular-season down for Atlanta.
- The Giants formally announced several moves today, including the signing of veteran linebacker Ashlee Palmer, who started 15 games over the last two seasons in Detroit. The club also signed rookie defensive back C.J. Conway, and waived/injured safety Justin Currie (ankle) and linebacker Tony Johnson (knee).
- The Jaguars announced a series of moves today (via Twitter and press release), adding wide receiver Erik Lora, linebacker Mister Alexander, and offensive lineman Will Corbin to their roster. The outgoing players are receiver Damian Copeland (waived/injured), offensive lineman Brennan Williams (waived/injured), and wideout Arrelious Benn (placed on IR).
- The Panthers have waived/injured defensive end Frank Alexander, signing tight end Dallas Walker to replace him on the roster, the team announced today (Twitter link). Alexander, who sustained a torn Achilles, is in the final year of his contract, so Carolina isn’t worried about another team claiming him.
- The Saints‘ tight end carousel continues, as the club is cutting Michael Egnew just a week after signing him, per Kristian Garic of WWL 870AM (Twitter link).
- The Seahawks have cut defensive back Jeremy Crayton, using the newly-created roster spot to re-sign wide receiver DeShon Foxx, tweets Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.
- The Jets signed tight end Matt LaCosse and waived/injured defensive lineman Davon Walls, Brian Costello of the New York Post tweets.
Extra Points: Giants, Nelson, Packers, Moss
Some assorted notes from around the league as we wrap up the weekend:
- Six-year veteran safety Corey Lynch will workout with the Giants on Monday, reports Mike Kaye of First Coast News (via Twitter). The 30-year-old entered the league in 2008 with the Bengals before a three-year stint with the Buccaneers.
- If Jordy Nelson ends up missing the entire season, it’ll cost him $500K, according to Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com (via Twitter), noting that the contract tactic is used often by the Packers and 49ers.
- Yahoo’s Charles Robinson wonders if the Packers would consider James Jones if the receiver was cut by the Giants (Twitter link).
- Randy Moss sounds like he’d like to get back in the NFL, and the former receiver said as much during the Vikings broadcast on Sunday evening. “I actually have not lost the itch,” Moss said (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com). “I’ve been working out with a few guys over the offseason. I have been retired for the last two years, but you never know, Curt. But it’s the love of the game that I still have inside of me.”
NFC East Notes: RGIII, JPP, Randle, Beason
Despite suffering a concussion during Thursday’s preseason game against the Lions, Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III participated fully in practice today, according to John Keim of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It’s a rather quick turnaround for a player who had entered into the league’s concussion protocol just days ago. Per head coach Jay Gruden, Griffin was cleared for non-contact activity, and has shown no ill effects from his head injury (link).
Here’s more from Washington and the rest of the NFC East:
- There has been some discussion as to whether the Giants should simply cut ties with defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, but as Ralph Vacchiano of The New York Daily News writes, last night’s preseason game against Carolina serves as a clear reminder why New York has not done so. Without JPP, Vacchiano says, “it sure looks like the Giants can’t get near opposing quarterbacks at all.”
- Receiver Rueben Randle, dealing with knee tenditis, might not be close to a return, Giants head coach Tom Coughlin told reporters, including Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (Twitter link). “This thing with Rueben has really confused me,” said Coughlin. Elsewhere on the nijury front, Coughlin said linebacker Jon Beason has a strained knee and is week-to-week, according to James Kratch of NJ.com.
- In a full-length piece, Keim sees RB Trey Williams as the only undrafted free agent that has a legitimate chance to make Washington‘s 53-man roster, though Keim notes that Williams still has some work to do to earn that spot.
- Brandon George of The Dallas Morning News examines the Cowboys‘ battle for the wide receiver spots behind Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, and Cole Beasley. Devin Street and Lucky Whitehead are the current favorites, but George notes that there is some intriguing talent behind those two.
Dallas Robinson contributed to this post.
Bennett Jackson Suffers Knee Injury
2:50pm: Jackson tore his ACL, a source tells Jordan Raanan of NJ.com, meaning that Jackson is likely to miss the 2015 season.
8:51am: The Giants‘ secondary, already ravaged by injury, suffered another major blow in last night’s preseason victory over Jacksonville. In addition to losing rookie safety Justin Currie for the season, Jordan Raanan of NJ.com writes that second-year safety Bennett Jackson sustained a knee injury on a defensive play in the fourth quarter. Raanan reports that Jackson, who enjoyed an excellent training camp and who appeared poised to land a starting role, left the team locker room limping badly and with his right knee in a brace. The extent of Jackson’s injury is unclear at this time, and he will get an MRI today, but as Raanan tweeted last night, there are concerns that it could be serious.
Of course, given the state of the Giants’ secondary–by the time the game ended, six of the nine safeties on the roster were unavailable due to injury–it is fair to wonder why Jackson was even on the field in the fourth quarter, having played 56 snaps already. At the moment, Brandon Meriweather, Jeromy Miles, and Justin Halley, all of whom have been signed in the past five weeks, are the only safeties left standing. Dan Graziano of ESPN.com tweets that Nat Berhe is expected to return to practice this week, but that will do little to assuage the team’s concerns at safety.
Unfortunately for the Giants, there are just not a ton of outside options to fortify the position, which is well-illustrated by a tweet from Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle this morning. Wilson notes that former Rutgers safety Jeremy Deering, who signed with New England as an undrafted free agent last year and who will be auditioning with the Eagles today, will next visit the Colts and Jets if he is not signed by Philadelphia. As PFR’s Ben Levine wrote yesterday, at least six teams are currently interested in Deering, which bespeaks the lack of quality safety options available at this point in the year. Graziano tweeted that Big Blue will likely “poke around” the free agent market again this week–it is unknown whether the Giants have interest in Deering–but it’s not as if the the team expects to find the answer to its prayers in the process. As head coach Tom Coughlin said of the mounting injuries, “It’s amazing with the way that’s going. It’s just hard to even comment on.”
We will pass along an update on Jackson’s injury as soon as it becomes available.
Giants’ Justin Currie Fractures Ankle
Giants rookie safety Justin Currie fractured his right ankle during the team’s game Saturday against Jacksonville, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano (Twitter link). Currie will miss the season as a result, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post tweeted.
Currie signed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan in May, but the team cut him in July before signing him yet again a week later. He’s the latest first-year Giants safety to suffer an injury this summer, joining Mykkele Thompson (torn Achilles) and Landon Collins (sprained MCL).
In his first NFL action, an Aug. 14 preseason loss to Cincinnati, Currie led the Giants with 50 snaps (41 on defense, nine on special teams), according to James Kratch of NJ.com.
In addition to Currie, the Giants also lost two other defenders – linebackers Jon Beason (sprained left knee) and Mark Herzlich (concussion) – to injuries against the Jaguars. It’s currently unknown how much time, if any, the two will miss.
NFC East Notes: Giants, Cowboys, Barkley, Eagles
A year ago, Newberry College standout Corey Washington was a standout during Giants training camp. The undrafted wideout went from having practically no chance at making the roster to suddenly being a reserve receiver.
However, the player hasn’t been turning heads during this summer’s camp, and the 23-year-old understands he has to contribute in other areas to make the team.
“I’m still considered a special-teams player,” Washington told Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “So I have to perform on offense and special teams, and hopefully be able to make the team again.
“With the three receivers we’ve got in front of me — Odell and Rueben and Vic — I’m pretty sure the fourth receiver has to be a special teamer. That’s what I’m aiming for, to be the fourth receiver. So, we’ll see.”
Let’s check out some more notes from the NFC East…
- Although cornerback Byron Jones, defensive end Randy Gregory and guard La’el Collins will steal most of the headlines among Cowboys rookies, Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram believes a number of other first-year players are primed to make an impact for Dallas. In particular, the writer points to linebacker Damien Wilson (fourth round) and wideout Lucky Whitehead (undrafted).
- With Tim Tebow‘s apparent emergence on the Eagles, Garry Cobb of GCobb.com believes Matt Barkley could be on the outside looking in. Still, the former USC standout has impressed during camp, leading the writer to believe that the team could get a draft pick for the quarterback.
- Former Rutgers safety Jeremy Deering will audition for the Eagles on Sunday, according to Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). The writer notes that six teams are interested in the 2014 undrafted free agent.