Bills To Sign Anquan Boldin
The Bills are set to sign Anquan Boldin, as Peter Schrager of NFL.com tweets. As one would expect, it’s a one-year deal for the veteran wide receiver. 
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Boldin’s deal will pay him $2.75MM in 2017 plus another $1.25MM in incentives, a source tells ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (Twitter links). Schefter adds that Boldin agreed to a deal with Buffalo last week and backed out before having another change of heart on Monday morning.
Boldin, 36, isn’t quite as dynamic as he once was, but he showed last year that he can still be productive. Boldin had 67 catches and a career-high eight touchdowns, though it should be noted that he averaged a career-worst 8.7 yards per reception.
Boldin will be counted upon to serve as insurance for Buffalo in the event that star Sammy Watkins has to miss time this season. Aside from using a second round pick on Zay Jones in the spring, the Bills didn’t do a whole lot to beef up their thin wide receiver group. Now, they’re in better shape with Boldin.
You can jot Boldin down as the team’s No. 2 or No. 3 wide receiver, depending on how Jones fares in practice for the rest of the month. After that, free agent additions Rod Streater, Corey Brown, Andre Holmes, and Jeremy Butler are among the names pushing for spots on the 53-man roster. Dezmin Lewis and Brandon Tate are also fighting for jobs while Walt Powell must serve a four-game suspension to start the year.
Dolphins’ Jarvis Landry Accused Of Battery
On Monday morning, Dolphins coach Adam Gase confirmed to reporters that wide receiver Jarvis Landry is under investigation for battery. The news was first broken by Andy Slater of WINZ.
The incident in question took place earlier this year with the mother of Landry’s child, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links) hears. Police were called to the scene, but ultimately local authorities chose not to prosecute Landry. The wide receiver cooperated with police and also provided the Dolphins with information, Rapoport hears.
The news comes at a particularly poor time for Landry since he has been pushing the team for a contract extension. The Dolphins have yet to make an offer to him (or even indicate that an offer is on the way), but Gase insists that is unrelated to any unresolved legal issue.
Of course, Landry can still face league discipline even though he will not face legal consequences for the alleged incident.
Dolphins To Place Ted Larsen On IR
Ted Larsen‘s torn biceps will require a stay on injured reserve, Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald tweets. The hope is that the Dolphins can bring him after Week 8, the earliest point at which players can return from IR. 
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Larsen was expected to serve as one of the Dolphins’ starting guards in Week 1. Although he wasn’t stellar last year, he was the team’s best option next to Kraig Urbik. Miami will now have to consider backups like Jermon Bushrod and fifth round pick Issac Asiata. The Dolphins may also want to look at free agent options, like the newly available Orlando Franklin. Of course, after his stay with the Saints was terminated in less than a week, the Dolphins would want to take a good look at his knee injury.
Last year, players were permitted to only bring one player back from injured reserve during the season. This year, teams will be allowed to designate two players for return from IR. Teams do not have to declare their one IR-DTR player in advance, meaning that the Dolphins can monitor Larsen’s situation and bring him back when he is fully healthy. Conversely, the Dolphins reserve the right to change course and use their two IR-DTR spots on other players.
Falcons’ Jalen Collins Suspended 10 Games
For the second straight year, Falcons cornerback Jalen Collins will be suspended without pay for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
The Falcons announced the suspension. It’s a 10-game ban because Collins was suspended four games in 2016 for a PED violation.
“We are extremely disappointed that for the second straight season we are dealing with a suspension for Jalen,” Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff said. “Such are the consequences when certain choices are made. Our decisions going forward will be based on what Dan and I feel is best for the team.”
A second-round pick in 2015, Collins returned from suspension and started six games for Atlanta after opening with the Falcons’ first unit in two games as a rookie. Collins started all three Falcons playoff games. He intercepted two passes and made 31 tackles during the regular season. The Falcons now have Desmond Trufant back healthy, along with well-compensated No. 2 corner Robert Alford.
Although he’s eligible to stay with the team throughout the preseason, Collins won’t be eligible to return to the Falcons until November 21. The 24-year-old defender has been working with Atlanta’s third team thus far during camp. The Falcons did not make any high-profile outside additions at corner this offseason.
Latest On Jordan Matthews
Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews was mentioned as a trade candidate before free agency opened, but since he remained on the roster even after the team signed Torrey Smith and Alshon Jeffery and drafted Mack Hollins and Shelton Gibson, those trade rumors all but disappeared. Recent developments, however, have led to renewed whispers that Matthews could be dealt.
For one, Matthews is dealing with knee tendonitis that kept him out of a good portion of spring practices, and though he is yet to miss a practice in training camp, Tim McManus of ESPN.com says that Matthews has struggled to “get right” since sustaining a bone bruise last August. Plus, the team has made no effort to engage in substantive extension talks, which, as McManus writes, is pretty telling given that executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman has a history of re-upping homegrown players early if they have been identified as part of the team’s core. Of course, it’s difficult to properly evaluate what an extension for Matthews would look like anyway, as he has performed well to this point in his career but he is a fairly unexplosive slot receiver who profiles as a No. 3 wideout on a contending team.
Then there is the fact that Nelson Agholor, the former first-rounder who was all but written off a few months ago, excelled when filling in for Matthews during the spring, and he has carried that strong performance into training camp. Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network recently said, “[Agholor] has had a total rebirth. He’s in the slot. He’s going to live in the slot. He’s going to be their slot receiver. I’ll be shocked if he’s not. I don’t know what that means for [Matthews]. Agholor is a lot more dynamic.”
Marcus Johnson, who signed as a UDFA last year, has also been impressive, as has Hollins. And while it would be foolhardy to put a lot of faith in Agholor at this point, not to mention a former UDFA and mid-round draft choices who have yet to prove anything, Roseman would certainly be justified in dealing Matthews now and getting some sort of draft pick compensation in return instead of letting him walk away for nothing in 2018.
For what it’s worth, McManus says trading Matthews would be unnecessarily risky, though it looks like more of an option now then it has in some time.
Harbaugh: No Definitive Date For Joe Flacco Return
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said yesterday there is no definitive date for Joe Flacco to return to the field, as Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com writes. Flacco, of course, has been dealing with a back injury, and we heard at the end of July that he was preparing to miss three to six weeks, though more optimistic reports had him returning within one week.
Harbaugh said, “We know he’s getting better every single day. Obviously, we have a plan for him, football-wise, when he gets back. But we haven’t been told when yet.”
Harbaugh’s statement should not be surprising in light of Baltimore’s highly-publicized dalliance with free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick. If the Ravens were truly convinced that Flacco would only be out a short period of time, it is unlikely they would be entertaining the notion of signing Kaepernick as seriously they have, as Kaepernick would not compete with a healthy Flacco for the team’s starting job.
The Ravens have been ravaged by injury in the early stages of training camp, and while they may yet have enough talent to make a playoff push with the talent they currently have at their disposal, they need Flacco to be 100% to have a real chance at being competitive in 2017.
In his only public comments about the injury, which he made on July 28, Flacco said he was unsure of when he would return to practice. He said, “It is just one of those things where you have to be patient and not let your competitive nature get the best of you. I am talking about everybody — myself and, really, everybody.”
Quincy Enunwa Suffers Neck Injury
Jets wide receiver Quincy Enunwa, the most experienced wideout on the team, suffered a neck injury during last night’s practice/scrimmage, as Daniel Popper of the New York Daily News writes. The injury occurred during 7-0n-7 drills, when Enunwa dove for a pass from Christian Hackenberg and hit his head on the ground. He attempted to get to his feet, but fell immediately on his face.
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Head coach Todd Bowles indicated that he is uncertain of the severity of the injury at this point. He did say, however, that it is the same shoulder and neck issue that kept Enunwa out of all three minicamp practices, which makes the injury even more concerning.
If Enunwa is out for any length of time, it will seriously weaken an already thin receiving corps. Gang Green, of course, has initiated a full rebuild and jettisoned veteran wideouts Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker this offseason, leaving Enunwa — who broke out in 2016 with 58 catches for 857 yards and four touchdowns — as the No. 1 wideout by default. Behind him is a mix of rookies and castoffs from other clubs, none of whom have stood out in camp thus far. Assuming Hackenberg takes over the starting quarterback role at some point this season, the lack of weapons he has at his disposal will make it tough for the Jets’ front office to fairly evaluate him.
After trainers tended to Enunwa for several minutes, he was able to get to his feet and walk slowly off the field.
Latest On Dolphins’ QB Quandary
Adam Gase attempted to provide clarity on the Dolphins’ quarterback situation on Saturday, but the position is far from solidified after the latest Ryan Tannehill injury occurrence.
Gase confirmed he’s spoken with Jay Cutler about being a possible emergency-circumstance addition, but the second-year coach said only one conversation has occurred. Gase did say Cutler expressed his interest in a Miami job, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reports. Gase said Cutler did not seek an arrangement where he’d only leave his Fox post for a guaranteed starting job, per Salguero.
“He was interested,” Gase said of Cutler’s status, via Salguero. “I think he’s just trying to figure out everything. … He didn’t demand anything.”
Salguero offers that a reunion between Gase and Cutler, who worked together for the 2015 Bears, remains the most likely conclusion to the Dolphins’ sudden passer crisis.
Meanwhile, both Salguero and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk are hearing matters are not calm on the Tannehill front. Salguero said he’s been told “over and over” reports of the 29-year-old quarterback having avoided structural damage are not correct. The Miami-based reporter adds the team is considering all options, including a season-ending ACL surgery for Tannehill. That’s the buzz Florio is getting, offering (on Twitter) the feeling is it’s “quietly becoming a given” the sixth-year starter will undergo surgery.
Tannehill, of course, did not undergo surgery for the partial tear he suffered late last season.
Jeff Darlington of ESPN.com, though, threw some cold water on a Cutler/Dolphins pact. The ESPN reporter tweeted Cutler is “leaning heavily” toward staying retired and beginning a broadcasting career. But this situation has brought unique intrigue for Cutler, whom Darlington reports (on Twitter) would only consider the Dolphins as a return destination. Even though Miami’s supporting cast — Jarvis Landry/DeVante Parker/Kenny Stills/Julius Thomas/Jay Ajayi — would represent one of the better groups of Cutler’s career, it doesn’t look like the 34-year-old free agent would return to football (Twitter link). But Darlington adds, via Twitter, Cutler isn’t 100 percent certain about spurning this interest yet.
Cutler’s television agent, Mark Block, tweeted his client hasn’t decided anything yet.
Vikings, Linval Joseph Agree To Extension
The Vikings have once again extended a key member of their defense. According to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter), the organization has signed defensive tackle Linval Joseph to a four-year, $50MM extension. The deal reportedly contains $31.5MM in guaranteed money.
Following the team’s signing of defensive end Everson Griffen and cornerback Xavier Rhodes to extensions, we heard that Joseph was next of the docket. The Pro Bowler was reportedly seeking similar money to Griffen’s four-year, $57.9MM extension, and he came up just short with his current deal. Either way, Joseph still earned himself quite the payday, as the guaranteed money will only rank him behind Ndamukong Suh, Marcell Dareus, Fletcher Cox, Kawann Short among defensive tackles.
The 2010 second-round pick has established himself as one of the linchpins of the Vikings defense over the past several years. 2016 was arguably the best season of the 28-year-old’s career, as Joseph compiled career-highs in tackles (77), sacks (four), and forced fumbles (three). Pro Football Focus was particularly fond of his performance, ranking him 14th among 125 qualified interior defensive linemen.
As our own Connor Byrnes noted earlier this week, the Vikings shouldn’t have been in any rush to sign the defensive tackle. Prior to signing this contract, Joseph still had two seasons remaining on the five-year, $31.25 million contract he signed back in 2014. Still, the organization has clearly prioritized locking up their core. Besides signing both Rhodes and Griffen to extensions, the team also extended safety Harrison Smith last offseason.
Latest On Dolphins’ Quarterback Situation
There has been mutual interest between Miami and Jay Cutler since Dolphins starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill suffered a left knee injury on Thursday. Adding to the speculation, Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post reports that Cutler would “really like to” reunite with Dolphins head coach Adam Gase. The feeling is mutual, as Cutler is Miami’s No. 1 choice among available passers, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, who adds that the two sides have discussed a contract (on Twitter).
The 34-year-old Cutler, who retired from football in May after receiving limited interest as a free agent and then signed with FOX Sports, has a good relationship with Gase from their time in Chicago in 2015. Then the Bears’ offensive coordinator, Gase helped Cutler to one of his best seasons, in which he completed 64.4 percent of passes, averaged 7.58 yards per attempt and threw 21 touchdowns against just 11 interceptions.
Whether Cutler joins Gase in Miami will largely boil down to the severity of Tannehill’s injury, which will either keep him out for several weeks or sideline him for the entire season. Cutler would reportedly only put his broadcasting career on hold to join the Dolphins as a full-time starter, so a less serious diagnosis for Tannehill might lead the Dolphins to look elsewhere for help under center.
One possibility could be Browns veteran Brock Osweiler, who isn’t a lock to make a roster that also includes rookie DeShone Kizer and second-year man Cody Kessler. Osweiler worked under Gase as a backup in Denver from 2012-14, when the latter served as the team’s quarterbacks coach and then O-coordinator, and developed immense respect for the coach. Gase is “brilliant” and “a tremendous coach,” Osweiler told Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com.
Thanks to the close relationship between Osweiler and Gase, not to mention the strong likelihood that Kizer will start for the Browns, the Dolphins will probably inquire about an Osweiler trade, writes Cabot. It’s unclear whether Osweiler, after struggling mightily last year in Houston, would overtake Tannehill’s main backup, Matt Moore, or sit behind Moore on Miami’s depth chart.
The 32-year-old Moore acquitted himself well while filling in late last season for an injured Tannehill, when he helped the Dolphins finish 2-1 to post a 10-6 record and earn their first playoff berth since 2008. Gase lightly endorsed Moore on Friday, telling reporters (including Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today): “Right now, Matt is our quarterback. We’ll see where we go from there because I’ve got to figure out what’s going on with Ryan. And then we’ll make a decision after that.”
There’s “no timetable” for a decision on Tannehill, Gase added, but the Dolphins are going to have to take action soon with the regular season just over a month away.