Bucs Place Noah Spence On IR
Noah Spence‘s sophomore season appears to be over after six games. The defensive end is going on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, the team announced. To take his spot, the Bucs have officially signed Darryl Tapp. 
[RELATED: Buccaneers To Sign DE Darryl Tapp]
Spence has suffered a number of shoulder dislocations during his young NFL career. He had surgery on his torn labrum in the offseason and the latest aggravation to that injury will require him to go under the knife once again. Technically, Spence can return after two months on injured reserve, but that would leave only two games in the regular season. Labrum surgery can also take a while to recover from, so it sounds like we won’t see Spence on the field again until 2018.
Spence, 23, has nine tackles and one strip sack to his credit over six games (three starts). In his full season last year, he had 5.5 sacks, 22 tackles, and three forced fumbles. The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus have him in the bottom 25 among qualified edge defenders, but the Bucs were using him a decent amount. Spence totaled 246 snaps in the team’s six games this year.
Seahawks To Sign DE Dwight Freeney
The Seahawks have signed veteran defensive end Dwight Freeney, as Freeney himself first indicated on his own Twitter account. Unsurprisingly, it’s a one-year deal for Freeney, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
Freeney, now 37 years old, spent the 2015 campaign in Arizona and managed eight sacks down the stretch after signing with the club midseason. Last year, Freeney didn’t have to wait quite as long to land a contract, and put up three sacks and 26.5 pressures for the Falcons while playing roughly a third of Atlanta’s defensive snaps.
Despite that performance, Freeney had yet to draw any interest on the free agent market until meeting with the Seahawks earlier today. He’d always planned to continue his career, however, and there’s an argument to be made that waiting until midseason to sign a deal could actually help a pass rusher of Freeney’s age by limiting his overall usage.
Freeney won’t be asked to play a starter’s complement of snaps in Seattle, as the club already boasts two excellent edge defenders in Michael Bennett and Frank Clark. Bennett, though, is dealing with plantar fasciitis, while fellow defensive end Cliff Avril is out for the rest of the season (and could be contemplating retirement). Given the Seahawks’ depth up front, Freeney will serve as a rotational option alongside other reserves such as Marcus Smith and Branden Jackson.
While there’s no word on the financials in Freeney’s contract, it’s possible (and even likely, based on past precedent) that his deal with Seattle will include some type of performance-based pay. Last season, Freeney inked a one-year, $1MM pact with Atlanta that contained up to $2MM in sack incentives.
Eagles LB Jordan Hicks Done For Season
Eagles linebacker Jordan Hicks will miss the remainder of the 2017 season after suffering a ruptured Achilles in Monday night’s victory over the Redskins, head coach Doug Pederson announced today. Zach Berman and Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Inquirer first reported last night that Hicks had injured his Achilles.
[RELATED: Eagles OT Jason Peters Tears ACL]
Hicks, 25, has been a full-time starter for most of his time in Philadelphia, but he’s only played 70% of the club’s defensive snaps this season. That’s largely because the former third-round pick has left two previous games with injury, allowing fellow linebacker Mychal Kendricks to see more time. After offering excellent production from 2015-16, Hicks has thus far graded as only the No. 54 linebacker among 81 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus, but it’s fair to assume Hicks’ health questions have affected his performance.
Even after Hicks is placed on injured reserve, the Eagles will still have six linebackers available on their defensive depth chart. Kendricks and Nigel Bradham figure to continue leading the unit in snaps, but Najee Goode, Joe Walker, Nathan Gerry, and Kamu Grugier-Hill could all more candidates to see more playing time. Kendricks, notably, was inactive on Monday with an injury of his own, and the rest of Philadelphia’s ‘backers have played mostly on special teams.
The Eagles don’t have a linebacker on their practice squad to promote, but they could scour the free agent market in search of a Hicks replacement. Just last week, Philadelphia auditioned veteran defenders Sean Spence, Donald Butler, and Jelani Jenkins, any of whom could become a reinforcement for the Eagles No. 14-DVOA-ranked defense. Other free agent linebackers include Perry Riley, Erin Henderson, Audie Cole, and Philip Wheeler.
NFL Team Hoping To Sign DeMarcus Ware
DeMarcus Ware says he’s done with football, but football won’t stop trying to pull him back in. The former defensive end tells Rich Eisen of FOX Sports Radio (Twitter link) that he received a text from a team on Tuesday morning asking him to join the squad and suit up on Sunday. Ware did not reveal that team’s identity, but he might be giving some thought to a return. 
“Should I do it?,” Ware wondered aloud in a Twitter reply.
It’s not immediately clear if Ware is open to playing again or if he is just having some fun with the idea of a comeback. At the age of 35, Ware has lots of mileage on him and little to prove. Over the course of his career, Ware earned an eye-popping nine Pro Bowl nods plus four First Team All-Pro selections. While with the Cowboys from 2005-13, he amassed a franchise-record 117 sacks. He was injured for his final two years in Denver, but he still managed 11.5 sacks in those campaigns and 21.5 overall in his three seasons with the club.
Ware is eighth on the NFL’s all-time sack list (138.5) and he could conceivably climb higher if he makes a return. In September, he teased that he would listen if the Cowboys came calling, but we don’t know how serious he was about that sentiment or whether he would also consider opportunities from one of the league’s 31 other teams.
No Suspension For Dolphins’ Jarvis Landry
Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry will not be suspended by the NFL for allegations of battery, Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter) reports. NFL investigators have determined that there is insufficient evidence for a personal conduct policy violation. 
[RELATED: Dolphins Release CB Byron Maxwell]
Even though the Broward County State Attorney’s Office opted against pressing charges last month, Landry was still subject to potential league discipline. Ultimately, the NFL reached the same conclusion as Florida authorities – there was simply not enough evidence to prove substantial wrongdoing.
In six games this year, Landry has 45 grabs for 365 yards and three touchdowns. While he remains an integral part of the offense, his yards per catch average has dipped from 12.1 last year to just 8.1 this year. He’ll look to ramp it up as the Dolphins look to build on their three-game winning streak.
He looked sharp on Sunday, hauling in seven catches for 93 yards and a touchdown in a win over the Jets. Of course, this is a big year for him as he looks ahead to free agency in the spring.
Steelers: We Won’t Trade Martavis Bryant
Martavis Bryant is unhappy with his role in the Steelers’ offense, but the team says he’s not going anywhere. On Tuesday, coach Mike Tomlin told reporters that he is “not available” via trade, adding that the team has invested too much in Bryant to bail on him (Twitter link via Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). 
Tomlin’s assertion comes just after Bryant made some very pointed comments to ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson (Facebook link). Bryant says that he hopes to make things work in Pittsburgh, but he also says that he needs to see an uptick in targets right away.
“By the end of whenever the trade deadline is,” Bryant said when asked about his own personal deadline for a change in the offense. “I mean if things don’t get better, than I got to go.”
Bryant says that he wants to have a bigger role in offense, in part, because of his desire to support his family. Bryant will be eligible for free agency following the 2018 season.
“I feel like it’s going to come down to whether we make changes or not, whether they try to include me more or not. If they don’t try to include me more and continue to do the same thing, then I want out period,” Bryant said. “I love my team. I love my brothers. I love being here. I love the city, but I have a family and everything going on now is about taking care of my family.”
Regardless, the Steelers say they’re sticking with Bryant, even though he took the unusual step of calling out sick on Monday with an illness. The tentative plan is for Bryant to return to the Steelers for Wednesday’s meetings and practice, a source tells ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (Twitter link).
Marshawn Lynch’s Suspension Upheld
Marshawn Lynch‘s one-game ban has been upheld, the NFL announced on Tuesday. The Raiders running back was ejected from Thursday night’s game for making contact with an official. 
The suspension was something of a no-brainer and so was the rejection of Lynch’s appeal. However, Lynch’s team gave it the old college try, citing past instances in which players were not ejected from games after making contact with officials.
In addition to the suspension, Lynch has been fined upwards of $30K and will lose out on $79K in weekly base salary plus an extra $31K in gameday active roster bonus money. All in all, Lynch’s mistake will cost him more than $140K.
When the Raiders take on the Bills this week, they’ll likely split running back duty between DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard. Lynch’s bruising power will be missed, even though he doesn’t have the prettiest stat line at the moment. Through seven games, Lynch has 266 yards off of 72 carries, giving him a 3.7 yards per carry average. He also has two rushing touchdowns and four receptions.
Lynch will return to action in Week 9 when the Raiders face the Dolphins in Miami.
Eagles’ Jason Peters Done For Season
Jason Peters‘ season is over. Tests revealed that the Eagles left tackle has suffered a torn ACL and MCL, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 
After Peters went down in Monday night’s win over the Redskins, the Eagles hoped that the veteran had only an MCL injury. Because it’s an ACL tear, there is zero hope for a return in 2017.
Peters is still among the best at his position and losing him is a major blow for Philly. This year, Pro Football Focus has Peters ranked as the third-best tackle in the entire NFL with a strong 86.4 overall grade. The highly decorated lineman has nine career Pro Bowl nods and two First-Team All-Pro selections to his credit. This season, he appeared to be a lock for Orlando, at the very least.
It remains to be seen how the Eagles will adjust with the 14-year vet out of action. In theory, Lane Johnson could be moved over from right tackle, but they could also bump backup Halapoulivaati Vaitai into the starting job on the left side. There are also some notable names on the free agent market, including Branden Albert now that he has declined an offer from the Seahawks.
Falcons Sign LB Sean Weatherspoon
The Falcons are reuniting with linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Weatherspoon will help fill in at linebacker now that rookie Duke Riley is set to undergo knee surgery. 
Weatherspoon, 29, was a first-round pick of the Falcons in 2010. Unfortunately, his career has been marred by injuries in recent years. In the last four years, he has made only 25 appearances – he missed the bulk of last season, rouhgly half of 2013, and the entire 2014 campaign.
In 2011, his only full season, he showed what he is capable of as he racked up 125 tackles and four sacks. If his knee and foot problems are behind him, he could perhaps be a quality contributor once again. The Falcons probably aren’t expecting that kind of stat line, but he could perhaps help the Falcons pivot out of their current three-game rut.
Assuming he dresses, Weatherspoon’s first game of 2017 will be a road contest against the scrappy Jets.
Dolphins Release CB Byron Maxwell
The Dolphins have released cornerback Byron Maxwell, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. To take his place, the team has signed quarterback David Fales. 
Maxwell has been demoted from the roster at various points this season. It appears that the cornerback is in decline, but coaches say that he is also refusing to play the defenses called from the sidelines. In cases where the Dolphins have called for press-man coverage, Maxwell has gone rogue and played far off of receivers. Although coaches were direct with Maxwell about the reasons behind his benching, he did not take accountability for it when talking to the media.
“ …In no way, shape, did I think my play [warranted] that,” Maxwell said earlier this month. “It’s a coach’s decision. Sometimes you have to deal with it. I’m a team player. Suck it up. Obviously, you think you’re the best man to do the job. You can’t control it. Everyone is trying to support your family trying to do the job.”
By releasing him now, the Fins are still on the hook for a significant portion of his $8.5MM cap number in 2017. However, they have freed themselves of his contract well before his $10MM cap number would have hit in 2018. They’ve also taken a potentially toxic player out of the locker room.
The Dolphins acquired Maxwell from the Eagles in the summer of 2016, just two days after they cut Brent Grimes. They were hoping that the cornerback could bounce back from a down year in 2015, but he was never able to get things going in Miami. On the plus side, linebacker Kiko Alonso remains a fixture on defense, so the Dolphins didn’t totally lose out when they moved down from the No. 8 pick to No. 13 that year.