Latest On Andrew Luck’s Timetable
The Colts made it official that Andrew Luck won’t be on the field for them Sunday in Week 1, making the game against the Rams the franchise’s first opener without its franchise passer since 2011.
However, Luck is not exactly a lock to return to the field in time for Week 2, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (video link). The NFL insider adds the rest of September is not certain for Luck, reporting some believe this absence will extend into October.
The Colts are exercising extreme caution with Luck in hopes of not having to see the quarterback go through right shoulder trouble again, Rapoport reports, adding there is perhaps a “strong possibility” Scott Tolzien receives more than one start and possibly more than two or three. Mike Wells of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter) Luck is still without a timetable for a return to practice.
Being removed from the PUP list would point to Luck returning at some point early in the season, but Indy’s September slate — which features a trip to Los Angeles and home tilts against the Browns and Cardinals — could feature a Tolzien-fronted operation. Luck has been out since January because of shoulder surgery.
In Luck’s 10 games out of the lineup over the past two years, the Colts are 6-4. But the since-retired Matt Hasselbeck was responsible for five of those victories.
Cowboys, G Zack Martin Put Contract Talks On Hold
The Cowboys and All-Pro guard Zack Martin have put contract negotiations on hold, Todd Archer of ESPN.com writes. They’ll try again next offseason to get a deal done. 
The two sides unofficially set a late August deadline for getting a contract done so that it would not be a distraction during the year. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a lot of progress on that front this summer.
The Cowboys exercised Martin’s fifth-year option in the spring and he’s now slated to earn $9.341MM in 2018. The option is guaranteed for injury only, so Martin would presumably prefer an extension to gain greater financial security. The Cowboys, in theory, can use tags to keep him through 2021, but they’ll probably want to use their one tag per year on other players along the way.
Last year, Martin finished as Pro Football Focus’ second-best guard. Kevin Zeitler, who inked the largest free agent contract ever given to a guard this offseason, was seventh. Martin is likely looking to top Zeitler’s five-year, $60MM pact, and that has given Dallas some pause.
Other key players on the Cowboys’ line are already locked up for years to come. Left tackle Tyron Smith and center Travis Frederick are under contract through through 2023 and right tackle La’el Collins is signed through 2019.
Le’Veon Bell Signs Franchise Tender
It’s officially official now. Le’Veon Bell has signed his franchise tender, according to an announcement from the Steelers. 
Bell stayed home during training camp and preseason action after the two sides could not reach agreement on an extension before the deadline. All along, we heard that Bell would report to the team before the regular season and he made good on that when he arrived at team headquarters on Friday. He did not put pen to paper on his one-year tender, however. On Monday morning, he did.
The running back will now play out the season on a one-year, $12.12MM tender. If he continues to play at a high level, the Steelers will have to either use a second tag on him worth roughly $14MM or give him a monster multi-year deal to keep him.
Bell ran for 1,268 yards off of 261 carries last year, good for a 4.9-yards-per-carry average, and seven touchdowns. He also had 75 catches for 616 yards and two touchdowns. Bell earned a Pro Bowl nod for his performance and also was named team MVP.
The Steelers have received a roster exemption for Bell, so they are actually carrying 54 players on the roster as of this writing. They have two weeks to get the roster back down to the 53-man max.
Mutual Interest Between Patriots, Boldin
Anquan Boldin retired from football this summer and he swears that he is retired for good. However, there was mutual interest between the wide receiver and the Patriots in the wake of Julian Edelman‘s injury, Ben Volin of The Boston Globe hears. 
It doesn’t sound like there’s anything brewing between the two sides at the moment, particularly since the Bills continue to hold his rights after placing him on the reserve/retired list. It’s hard to see a scenario in which the Bills cut Boldin loose to sign with a divisional rival, particularly since his retirement left them high and dry after trading Sammy Watkins to Los Angeles.
Boldin turns 37 in October, but he showed last year that he can still be productive. Boldin joining up with the Patriots seems unlikely, but his itch to play is worth keeping in mind as the season goes on.
Steelers Acquire DB J.J. Wilcox
The Steelers have acquired safety J.J. Wilcox from the Buccaneers, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Pittsburgh will receive Wilcox and a 2019 seventh-round pick in exchange for a 2018 sixth-round pick, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Tampa Bay had just signed Wilcox to a two-year deal this spring, but given that it inked T.J. Ward earlier today, the club no longer need Wilcox around for depth. The Buccaneers won’t take on any dead money by trading Wilcox because they didn’t employ a signing bonus on his contract.
The Steelers had also been mentioned as a potential destination for Ward, but they’ve instead picked up the 26-year-old Wilcox, who boasts 58 career games (38 starts). Wilcox will earn $3.25MM in 2017 and serve as depth behind Pittsburgh starting safeties Mike Mitchell and Sean Davis.
Cowboys Cut DT Cedric Thornton
The Cowboys cut defensive tackle Cedric Thornton, as Todd Archer of ESPN.com tweets. His $3MM base salary was guaranteed for this year, so Dallas will be on the hook for that sum. 
Thornton signed a four-year deal with Dallas worth $17MM last year but disappointed in his Dallas debut. The former undrafted free agent compiled only 22 tackles and 1.5 sacks on the year. The Cowboys were hoping he’d bounce back this summer, but they didn’t see the results they were looking for.
Ultimately, the Cowboys paid Thornton $6MM for one season of work. They’ll take on $1.25MM in dead money this season and $2.5MM in 2018.
Dallas was already thin along the defensive line given that David Irving and Damontre Moore will begin the 2018 season on the suspended list. First-round pick Taco Charlton figures to start opposite Tyrone Crawford at defensive end.
Colts Claim Matt Jones
Matt Jones is finally off the Redskins and with another club. Per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network (via Twitter), the Colts have claimed the former Washington running back off waivers.
Jones fell out of favor with Washington early last season, his second year in the league, and he found himself on the trading block shortly thereafter. Jones’ former agent lobbied for a release in June, and Jones then switched representation to Drew Rosenhaus. Being a former third-round pick whose yards-per-carry average spiked by more than a yard to 4.6 per tote last season, Jones has plenty of promise, but his fumbling issues are a major concern; he has fumbled eight times over the past two seasons.
Still, Indianapolis makes plenty of sense as a landing spot. While the Colts currently employ the ageless Frank Gore as their starting running back, Father Time figures to catch up with Gore sooner rather than later, and Jones and rookie Marlon Mack could make a youthful and talented one-two punch in the Indianapolis backfield.
Su’a Cravens Reverses Retirement Decision
Redskins safety Su’a Cravens informed the club on Saturday that he intended to retire, but has reversed his decision (for now) after a meeting with Washington decision-makers, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Cravens will be placed on NFI list which will rule him out for at least a month while the team helps him to alleviate some “issues,” per Schefter (Twitter link) and Mike Jones of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
Cravens, 22, has contemplated retirement before, tweets Mike Jones of the Washington Post, and while details are slim as to the reasons behind Cravens’ decision, injury issues could be one possibility. Cravens is now required to wear glasses full-time following a concussion in 2016, and brain injuries have caused young players to hang up their cleats in the past. A torn biceps ended Cravens’ season last year, meanwhile, and he’s currently recovering from knee surgery. However, it’s “more than a physical thing” that’s led Cravens to mull retirement, per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link).
With veteran DeAngelo Hall starting the season on the physically unable to perform list, Washington has a vacancy at safety opposite D.J. Swearinger. Other defensive backs on the Redskins’ roster include Stefan McClure, Montae Nicholson, and DeShazor Everett.
Cravens, a second-round draft pick in 2016, appeared in 11 games and made three starts during his rookie campaign while playing both defensive back and linebacker. He’d been expected to shift to safety full-time for the 2017 season.
Coughlin: Jaguars Never Interested In Kaepernick
When the Jaguars opened up their quarterback competition in August (only to close it again one week later), there was some speculation that Jacksonville could look into signing free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick. That speculation was fueled in part by club owner Shad Khan, who said that he would “absolutely” be okay with his team signing Kaepernick if his football people recommended him.
That never happened, and when Blake Bortles was named the starting quarterback last week, the Kaepernick-to-Jacksonville chatter, such as it was, died down. But unless Bortles flashes some hitherto unsuspected ability, the Jaguars will still have a glaring need at the quarterback position. Indeed, the club has enough talent that it could conceivably make a playoff push in a shaky AFC South if it can get consistent QB play, and some believe that Kaepernick would represent enough of an upgrade to get the Jags back to the postseason.
However, executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin has emphatically quashed the Kaepernick discussion. When asked if he ever considered Kaepernick, Coughlin said, “No, I didn’t. We did the study and the research and we weren’t interested.” When asked for his reasoning, Coughlin said, “No, I’m not explaining it. I just said what it is” (Twitter link via Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union).
Of course, this will be construed in some segments as an unenlightened decision to decline adding a player that might improve the club because that player took advantage of his freedom of expression and alienated a large portion of the NFL’s fanbase in the process. And maybe that segment would be right. But Coughlin is an intelligent football man, and as Kaepernick is a system quarterback whose salary demands and current commitment to football are largely unknown, it is fair to think that Coughlin’s decision was football-driven.
Buccaneers To Sign T.J. Ward
The Buccaneers will sign the newly-released T.J. Ward, as James Palmer of NFL.com tweets. It’s a one-year, $4MM deal that includes a maximum value of $5MM, per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Ward started 41 games over three seasons in Denver after inking a four-year deal with the club prior to the 2014 season. Last season, he made 14 appearances, totaling one interception and one sack while ranking as the NFL’s No. 48 safety, per Pro Football Focus. Ward’s 75.9 grade was the worst mark of his career, and the Broncos felt it was better to move on and get a little salary cap relief in the process.
Per Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link), Ward drew interest from seven teams and had serious talks with three. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the Steelers had some degree of interest, but they were not serious contenders for his services.
Tampa Bay has already done a fair amount of tinkering at the safety position this offseason. The Bucs re-signed Chris Conte, signed free agent J.J. Wilcox from the Cowboys, and drafted Justin Evans in the second round. But signing Ward will help solidify the defensive backfield, and as Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times writes, Ward will push either Conte or Keith Tandy to the bench, and Wilcox and Evans will see their potential playing time take a hit as a result.
John Spytek, the Bucs’ director of player personnel and GM Jason Licht‘s right-hand man, was Cleveland’s director of college scouting when the Browns drafted Ward in 2010, and he spent two years as a scout with the Broncos when Ward played in Denver. That connection almost certainly played a role in Ward’s decision, along with the fact that Tampa Bay is a potential playoff team.