Colts C Ryan Kelly To Have Foot Surgery
Some injuries can be healed with Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Unfortunately, the R.I.C.E method did not work for Colts center Ryan Kelly. His broken foot will require surgery, coach Chuck Pagano told reporters on Thursday morning.
Kelly will likely be sidelined for 6-8 weeks, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears. Given that timeframe, he’ll likely be placed on injured reserve and designated for return midseason, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
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Kelly was selected with the No. 18 overall pick in last year’s draft and went on to start in every game for the Colts last year. This season, he was being counted on to reprise that role.
The injury could motivate the Colts to turn to the free agent market. The Colts have been in talks with Jeremy Zuttah and they were working to line up a visit for this week. If Zuttah opts to return to Baltimore instead, the Colts could also consider free agent options like former Pro Bowler Nick Mangold.
For now, undrafted free agent addition Deyshawn Bond profiles as the team’s likely starter in Kelly’s absence. Adam Redmond, a 2016 UDFA, could also push for the job.
Seahawks To Sign CB Tramaine Brock
The Seahawks have agreed to a one-year deal with cornerback Tramaine Brock, sources tell Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). The Seahawks met with Brock on Tuesday and it didn’t take long for a deal to come together. 
The Seahawks were actually among the teams with interest in Brock back in April, but clubs stopped calling in the wake of domestic violence allegations. When he was cleared of all charges last week, as many as 12 teams came calling, including the Seahawks, Texans, and Vikings. The incumbent 49ers were discussing a new deal with him in the spring but they did not circle back to him.
Brock, 28, spent the last two seasons as a starter for the Niners. While the free agent cornerback market still features some big names (like Darrelle Revis), Brock stood as the most talented one of the bunch at this juncture of the offseason. The Seahawks didn’t necessarily need Brock, but their famed Legion Of Boom has gotten even deeper with his addition.
Saints’ Delvin Breaux To Undergo Surgery
So much for being trade bait. The Saints have learned that cornerback Delvin Breaux will require surgery for a fractured fibula, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. It will take a bit for him to recover and he will be sidelined for the next four to six weeks, meaning that he’ll miss the start of the 2017 season. 
Breaux’s fracture was first diagnosed as a contusion and the slow pace of his recovery led to the Saints putting him on the trading block. Now that the Saints know that it was really a misdiagnosed fractured fibula, the Saints are probably a bit more understanding. Already, the team has fired two team orthopedists over the issue.
The Saints could look into out-of-house cornerback options while Breaux heals up, but they could also stand pat with P.J. Williams, Ken Crowley, Sterling Moore, and first-round pick Marshon Lattimore at cornerback. Recently, we heard that Williams and Crowley profile as the starters.
Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott Files Appeal
Ezekiel Elliott‘s fight is officially on. The Cowboys running back formally appealed his six-game ban on Tuesday, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter) reports. 
Elliott’s appeal will underscore elements of the alleged victim’s testimony that may have been incomplete or purposely misleading. The NFL has acknowledged some inconsistencies in Tiffany Thompson’s story, but investigators say they have incontrovertible evidence of abuse.
If Elliott does not have the suspension overturned or reduced, he will be sidelined until the team’s Week 8 game against the Redskins on October 29th (the Cowboys have a Week 6 bye). That would leave the Cowboys without their best offensive weapon versus the Giants, Broncos, Cardinals, Rams, Packers, and 49ers.
Elliott will have the assistance of the NFLPA as he looks to have his suspension overturned or reduced.
Panthers, Thomas Davis Agree To Extension
The Panthers and Thomas Davis have agreed to an extension. It will be a one-year, $6.75MM add-on for 2018, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The new pact also gives him an additional $2MM guaranteed for the coming year plus $1MM guaranteed in 2018.
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Davis, 34, started in all 16 games last season and led all Panthers defenders in snaps. He proved that he has plenty of good football left as he tallied 106 tackles, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and a touchdown.
Many believed that Davis would get the extension he was seeking once GM Dave Gettleman was fired and Marty Hurney was brought back in as the GM on an interim basis. Hurney insisted that this time around, he would not allow his emotional attachment to players to dictate his business decisions. Davis and Hurney do have history together, but Hurney believes that this was the right move to make from a football and business perspective.
Davis is coming off of his second consecutive Pro Bowl appearance. Last year, he graded out the 39th best linebacker in the entire NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. If he can continue to play at that level, the extension will prove to be a win for Carolina. If he declines in 2017, the Panthers can escape the deal pretty easily.
Kirk Cousins: I Want To Stay With Redskins
Even though he turned down an extension offer from the Redskins in favor of playing on the franchise tag for the second year in a row, Kirk Cousins says he wants to remain with the Redskins for the rest of his career. 
“I would love to be . . . a Redskin the rest of my career,” Cousins told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio (transcription via PFT). “When you look at the best of the best, those quarterbacks played with one team. And if you point to a couple guys who didn’t, who changed teams, it really was against their will: I think if Joe Montana or Peyton Manning had their way they would have stayed where they had won Super Bowls and played so well. They wouldn’t have played so well. So my desire is to stay with one team my entire career, and that would be Washington.”
There were rumors throughout the offseason that Cousins was unhappy in Washington and unwilling to stay in the long term. If Cousins is telling the truth here and not just being positive for the sake of keeping the team distraction-free, then the Redskins may be able to keep him with a market-value offer next offseason. If he really wants out, however, then he can hold the line and force the Redskins to either let him test the open market or give him the ultra expensive third franchise tag.
In late July, roughly 77% of PFR readers predicted that Cousins would not be a member of the Redskins in 2018.
Eagles Release RB Ryan Mathews
The Eagles are finally cutting Ryan Mathews. The running back was released on Tuesday morning after receiving medical clearance, the team announced.
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The Eagles decided to move on from Mathews months ago, but they have been waiting for him to first get the green light on his injured neck from team doctors. Had the Eagles released Mathews before getting medical clearance, they would have had to pay him $1.15MM in injury protection. Instead, he’ll count against the cap for just $1MM in dead money while saving the club $4MM.
“We want to thank Ryan for his contributions to the Philadelphia Eagles over the past two seasons,” the team said in a statement. “We spoke today and had a productive conversation about his future and the direction of our team going forward. First and foremost, we are glad that Ryan is healthy and has been cleared to return to football activities, but given the current state of our running back position, we feel like it is best for both sides to go in a different direction. We wish him all the best as he continues his career.”
Mathews‘ season ended in December when he suffered the painful neck injury. Even with that injury plus the MCL sprain he was dealing with, he still managed to turn in a decent season. In 13 games, he had 661 yards off of 155 carries for an average of 4.3 yards per attempt. He also had eight rushing touchdowns plus 13 catches for 115 yards.
With Mathews out of the picture, the Eagles plan to use Blount, Darren Sproles, and Wendell Smallwood as their top backs. Fourth-round pick Donnel Pumphrey and Byron Marshall are also pushing to make the 53-man cut.
Chargers’ Mike Williams Eyeing Oct. Debut
The Chargers are eyeing an October debut for first-round pick wide receiver Mike Williams, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com hears. That’s a good sign for Williams considering that the team was uncertain about whether he would be able to play at all in 2017. 
The Chargers selected Williams with the No. 7 overall pick in this year’s draft. Los Angeles is hoping to slot Williams in as the team’s No. 2 wide receiver this year, providing support to top target Keenan Allen. For however long he is out, the Bolts will have to rely more heavily on Travis Benjamin, Tyrell Williams, and Dontrelle Inman.
Los Angeles will be closely monitoring Williams over the next few weeks to get a better handle on his timeline. If Williams needs to rest until Week 7 (October 22 vs. the Broncos), then starting the season the PUP list could be the way to go. However, if they think he can take the field sooner, they may refrain from doing that.
Williams, a 6’4″, 218-pound receiver, turned in a 98-catch, 1,361-yard, 11-touchdown season in 2016. The Chargers are hoping to see what he can do at the next level sooner rather than later.
Latest On Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott
Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott won’t formally appeal his six-game suspension until Tuesday, but we’re already getting early word on what his case might look like. Elliott’s team will argue that ex-girlfriend Tiffany Thompson made a number of threats to “ruin his career,” including one threat that was racial in nature, sources tell Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram. Elliott’s reps will also highlight inconsistencies in Thompson’s testimony throughout the process. 
It’s not clear which of these “quoted threats” are substantiated by written evidence. In one instance, Elliott’s team alleges that Thompson said: “You are a black male athlete. I’m a white girl. They are not going to be believe you.” Elliott is “100 percent certain” that Thompson said this, per Hill’s source, but that might not hold much weight with the league office or in a court of law if it cannot be proven.
Elliott’s team will also make note of Thompson’s potentially bogus allegations of a domestic assault on July 22, 2016. The NFL has acknowledged that Thompson was not entirely truthful about the events on that day, though the running back will still have to answer for photographic evidence of other potential incidents on that same week.
If Elliott’s suspension stands, he will not see the field until late October.
Bears Claim Roberto Aguayo
The Bears have claimed kicker Roberto Aguayo off waivers from the Buccaneers, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
While claiming a kicker would typically carry little financial risk, that’s not the case for Chicago given that Aguayo was a second-round pick in 2016. Roughly two-thirds of Aguayo’s 2017 base salary is guaranteed, meaning the Bears will now be on the hook for $428K if they cut the former Florida State Seminole.
Connor Barth is the incumbent kicker standing in Aguayo’s way, and his contact contains guaranteed money as well ($155K worth), meaning the Bears will be absorbing dead money no matter which kicker they ultimately choose. Barth converted only 78% of his field goals in 2016 (including 1-of-3 from 50+ yards), but did make all but one of his extra points.
Aguayo, of course, posted even worse numbers during his rookie campaign in 2016, leading to his release on Saturday. Aguayo made only 22-of-31 field goal attempts last year (71%) and missed two extra points. That performance, combined with his struggles in camp and the preseason, was enough for Tampa Bay to thrown in the towel, despite having traded up in the draft to select him a year ago.