NFL Workout Updates: 11/30/17
Here are the latest workout and visit updates, courtesy of veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer unless otherwise noted.
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Green Bay Packers
- TE Devon Cajuste (visit), LB Ahmad Thomas (visit)
Kansas City Chiefs
- TE Anthony Firkser, Henry Krieger-Coble (link)
Miami Dolphins
- RB Russell Hansbrough, RB Kalif Phillips, RB Brandon Radcliff (link)
New Orleans Saints
- TE Alex Ellis, TE Darion Griswold, TE Henry Krieger-Coble, TE Robert Tonyan (link)
Oakland Raiders
- WR Seantavius Jones, WR Francis Owusu, WR Tevaun Smith (link)
San Francisco 49ers
- T Reid Fragel, CB Senquez Golson, K Garrett Hartley, CB Michael Hunter (visit), CB Keith Lewis, LB Boseko Lokombo, LB John Lotulelei, CB J.R. Nelson, TE Luke Papilion, RB Jhurell Pressley, RB Khiry Robinson, CB Channing Stribling RB Jahad Thomas, WR Javon Williams, TE Travis Wilson, CB Lou Young (Twitter links via Balzer)
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/29/17
Today’s practice squad updates:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: RB Darius Victor
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: LB Darnell Sankey
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: RB Aaron Green
Denver Broncos
- Signed: CB Michael Hunter
Detroit Lions
- Signed: DE Jeremiah Valoaga
- Waived: LB Thurston Armbrister
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: LB Ahmad Thomas
Houston Texans
- Signed: QB Taylor Heinicke, TE Ryan Malleck, WR DeAndrew White
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/28/17
Here are today’s minor moves.
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed off Saints’ practice squad: LB Gabe Martin
- Signed: RB Bronson Hill
- Waived: S Harlan Miller
- Waived: G/T Vinston Painter
Chicago Bears
- Waived: WR Tre McBride
Denver Broncos
- Released from IR: TE A.J. Derby
Indianapolis Colts
- Claimed: TE Ross Travis
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: TE Orson Charles
New England Patriots
- Signed off Ravens’ Practice Squad: LB Nicholas Grigsby
- Signed: OL Jason King
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: WR Isaac Whitney
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: DT Rodney Coe
- Waived: DT Garrison Smith
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Bobo Wilson
- Signed: FB Alan Cross
- Waived: TE Luke Stocker
NFL Reduces Michael Crabtree, Aqib Talib Suspensions To One Game
The Raiders will have Michael Crabtree back in their starting lineup come Week 14. The NFL reduced the wideout’s two-game suspension to one on Tuesday night, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports, adding Aqib Talib‘s two-game ban has also been trimmed to one (Twitter links).
Crabtree will only miss this week’s game against the Giants. The Raiders face the Chiefs in Week 14. Talib will miss Sunday’s Broncos-Dolphins game but be back for Denver’s Week 14 game against the Jets.
The two essentially shared culpability in the widespread brawl that featured the rivals in a rare one-on-one fight scene in the end zone. But a day after the suspensions were handed out, the Raiders and Broncos received word the NFL has softened its stance upon appeals voiced from James Thrash (representing Talib) and Derrick Brooks (representing Crabtree).
Talib will save $570K as a result of Tuesday’s adjusted punishment. Crabtree will save $367K. This will be Talib’s second one-game suspension in three seasons. He missed a November 2015 game as a result of on-field actions against the Colts. Crabtree will miss his second game as a Raider. The veteran pass-catcher played in each of Oakland’s 32 regular-season games during the 2015 and ’16 seasons before missing Week 4 of this season — against the Broncos.
Both Vance Joseph and John Elway stood by Talib during his appeal hearing, Mike Klis of 9News tweets.
The Raiders still could be facing the prospect of playing without Crabtree or Amari Cooper for the first time since the duo became Raiders two seasons ago. Cooper is dealing with a concussion and a sprained ankle. The Broncos will turn to Bradley Roby to start opposite Chris Harris, with third-round rookie Brendan Langley — whom Cooper scored a short touchdown against during Sunday’s Raiders win — filling in as the nickel presence.
Raiders To Bring Antonio Hamilton Off IR
The Raiders have designated cornerback Antonio Hamilton to return from injured reserve, as Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. The move will trigger a three-week window for Hamilton to return to the 53-man roster. If he is not activated within that timeframe, he will not be eligible to play for the remainder of the season. 
The move officially means that will will not see kicker Sebastian Janikowski or offensive lineman Denver Kirkland take the field again in 2017. Each team has only two IR-DTR spots to use and one has already been burned to activate safety Obi Melifonwu.
Hamilton underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus back in October. Before that, the second-year player appeared in four games, primarily as a special-teamer. Last year, he made ten appearances. Per league rules, Hamilton will be eligible to play against the Cowboys on Dec. 17.
Darren McFadden Announces Retirement
Darren McFadden is calling it a career. The former Cowboys running back announced his retirement from football on Tuesday afternoon. 
“Today, I am announcing that I am retiring from the NFL. I have been extremely privileged to play in the league for a long time,” McFadden wrote. “And now that time for me is done.”
McFadden, 30, was waived by the Cowboys over the weekend. It was reportedly a mutual decision. At the time, it seemed like McFadden might seek work elsewhere, but has decided to walk away from the game instead. In theory, McFadden was free to sign with any team after passing through the post trade deadline waivers.
The running back first broke into the league as the No. 4 overall pick in the 2008 draft. While he showed flashes of serious potential, injuries hampered him in Oakland. His best Raiders season came in 2010 when he ran for 1,157 yards plus 507 yards receiving.
McFadden had a late career re-emergence with Dallas, eclipsing 1,000 yards in 2015. Unfortunately, he lost most of 2016 to injury and didn’t see much action this year. His 2017 season ends after one game played with one rushing attempt for negative two yards. Some expected McFadden to get back into the fold after Ezekiel Elliott‘s suspension, but that never came to fruition.
McFadden’s career ends with 5,421 yards rushing, at an average of 4.2 yards per attempt, and 28 rushing touchdowns. He also had 2,114 yards receiving and five TDs through the air.
We here at Pro Football Rumors wish McFadden the best in retirement.
Michael Crabtree and Aqib Talib Suspended Two Games
Both wide receiver Michael Crabtree and cornerback Aqib Talib have been suspended two games for the fight that took place during yesterday’s game between the Raiders and Broncos, the NFL’s Vice President of Football Communications, Michael Signora, has announced on Twitter.
Normally when players are ejected because of personal foul penalties they are not subject to suspension of any kind. However, both players had a history of bad blood with each other that boiled over again on Sunday, even after it was reported that the refs had each given a warning to both sides before the game started, knowing that there had been prior altercations.
Vice President of Football Operations Jon Runyan explained the reasoning to both players in separate quotes in the press release. Runyan stated the multiple violations and excessive violence that took place after the play, which led to a team-wide brawl that could have easily been avoided.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com adds that both players will be appealing their suspensions in the coming days (Twitter link).
While no other suspensions were announced by the league, Raiders lineman Gabe Jackson was mentioned as being another possibility to face league discipline as well in terms of a fine for his role in the dispute.
Two games is a very serious punishment when looking at the history of fights throughout the league and will definitely stick in the mind of any player looking to start problems from past events.
The suspensions themselves affect the Raiders more than the Broncos as Oakland is still in the playoff hunt. But, without Crabtree and perhaps fellow WR Amari Cooper, who suffered a concussion, in addition to the sprained right ankle we learned about earlier today, the Raiders will need the likes of Seth Roberts, Johnny Holton and Cordarrelle Patterson to step up vs. the Giants in Week 13.
Denver has a capable backup corner in Bradley Roby, but is likely to add further depth for the next two weeks as the team only has one other backup on the depth chart.
Amari Cooper Also Dealing With Sprained Ankle
On the same Darian Stewart hit that concussed Amari Cooper, the Raiders wide receiver suffered a sprained ankle, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
Cooper will now have to surmount concussion protocol and recover sufficiently from this ankle malady in order to play against the Giants on Sunday.
The Raiders beat the Broncos despite missing both of their wide receivers for much of the contest, and Oakland could face the prospect of being without Cooper and Michael Crabtree again. Crabtree could face a suspension, although nothing has been announced yet, for his actions in the fight with Aqib Talib.
Beyond Cooper and Crabtree, the Silver and Black have Cordarrelle Patterson, Seth Roberts and Johnny Holton on their roster. The Raiders did not have to deal with any in-case-of-emergency receiver situations in their 12-4 2016 season; both Cooper and Crabtree started all 16 games. Cooper has never missed a game in his three-season NFL career.
Potential Losses of Crabtree, Cooper Leave WR Problems
There was a team-wide brawl that took place between the Raiders and Broncos this afternoon, started by Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree and Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib. The two have a had a go of it in the past, when both engaged each other during a game last season. However, this fight was capped off by Crabtree throwing and partly landing a punch at the head of Talib. Both players were immediately ejected from the game, which forced the veteran wideout to watch the rest of the contest from a suite, according to Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com.
- The Raiders receiving corps took a further hit in the AFC West battle as they lost Amari Cooper for the game with a concussion, Gutierrez also passes along. The 23-year-old wideout suffered the injury when he was hit in the head by Broncos safety Darian Stewart on a collision over the middle of the field. There appeared to be no malicious intent behind the play, even though there was a personal foul penalty given. Nevertheless, Oakland may be without both their top receivers for next week’s game because of what transpired today versus Denver. The Raiders would need extra contributions from the likes of Seth Roberts, Johnny Holton and Cordarrelle Patterson should Crabtree get suspended and Cooper not pass concussion protocol.
Raiders Expected To Fire Todd Downing After 2017
The Raiders fired defensive coordinator Ken Norton earlier this week, and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that offensive coordinator Todd Downing is coaching for his job. Per La Canfora, the Raiders are unlikely to bring Downing back for 2018, and while head coach Jack Del Rio — who received a lucrative extension prior to the season — is probably not going anywhere, it appears as if his staff will look quite different next year.
Downing was a hot offensive coordinator candidate last offseason and drew interest from multiple clubs. The Raiders ultimately decided to promote him after allowing former OC Bill Musgrave‘s contract to lapse, but their offense has taken a significant downturn with Downing at the helm.
Downing, 37, has had success as a quarterbacks coach in the past, serving in that capacity with the Lions from 2011-13, the Bills in 2014, and the Raiders from 2015-16. Under his tutelage, Derek Carr became one of the better quarterbacks in the league, but Carr has regressed this season and the offense is missing the big plays that it enjoyed under Musgrave. The offense ranks just 18th in offensive points scored, 21st in yards per game, 22nd in plays of 10 yards or more, 27th in rushing yards, and 21st in overall passing.La Canfora adds that Downing has not endeared himself to other coaches and front office members, which could help trigger his ouster.
If the team does look for a new OC in 2018, La Canfora names Mike McCoy as a potential candidate. Per La Canfora, McCoy has been approached by several teams who want him to work as a consultant for the duration of 2017, but he is unlikely to entertain any such advances. Instead, he will simply wait for the winter hiring period, when he will be one of the more coveted coordinators on the market.
Even if Del Rio does not hire McCoy, he is likely to seek someone with more experience in light of Downing’s disappointing first season.