Eagles Re-Sign Carmichael, Put Wolff On IR
The Eagles have made a change to their secondary, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve re-signed defensive back Roc Carmichael, placing safety Earl Wolff on the injured reserve list in a corresponding transaction.
It’s not clear whether Wolff has a significant injury that would keep him out for the rest of the season — it appeared he’d slipped on the Eagles’ depth chart recently, and had been a healthy scratch in recent weeks, sitting in favor of Nate Allen and Chris Prosinski. In any case, his 2014 campaign has come to an early end, though he remains under contract with the club through 2016.
As for Carmichael, he recently worked out for the Eagles, and rejoins the club after having spent the majority of the 2013 season in Philadelphia. Having been waived by the Eagles during the team’s preseason cutdown to 53 players, Carmichael had worked out for the Lions, Buccaneers, and Chargers this season before catching back on with Philadelphia today.
Workout Notes: 49ers, Bills, Saints, Eagles
As usual, NFL teams are keeping a close eye on the free agent market, bringing in players for visits and tryouts as they prepare contingency plans in the event that they need to replace injured players or add depth. Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun has the details on several of the latest workouts and auditions from around the league, so let’s round up the highlights (all links go to Twitter)….
- In the wake of Jimmie Ward‘s season-ending injury, the 49ers worked out a handful of defensive backs, including Dominique Franks, Drayton Florence, and Marcus Cromartie.
- Before they decided to sign safety Bacarri Rambo, the Bills eyed several other defensive backs as possible replacements in the secondary for injured cornerback Leodis McKelvin. Chris Clemons, Brandon Taylor, Stephon Morris, and Josh Bush also auditioned for the club.
- A trio of linebackers – Moise Fokou, L.J. Fort, and Jerry Franklin – worked out for the Saints.
- We heard previously that the Eagles took a look at a couple former starting quarterbacks, but that wasn’t the only position at which the team auditioned players. Philadelphia also tried out wide receiver Uzoma Nwachukwu and defensive back Roc Carmichael.
- In addition to bringing in Allen Reisner, who signed with the team’s practice squad, the Ravens worked out fellow tight end Ike Ariguzo.
Workout Updates: Holmes, Pryor, Lewis
After having been released by the Bears earlier this week to make room for Marquess Wilson, wide receiver Santonio Holmes passed through waivers unclaimed and is on the lookout for a new job. And according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (via Twitter), the veteran wideout has already paid a visit to Kansas City to meet with the Chiefs, a team that could use a receiver — through nine games, no Chiefs wide receivers have a touchdown this season.
While we wait to see if Holmes ends up signing with Kansas City or another club, let’s round up a few more Saturday updates on free agent visits, workouts, and auditions around the league….
- With Nick Foles on the shelf, the Eagles just have two healthy quarterbacks on the active roster, and while a move is unlikely, the team is keeping an eye on free agent options just in case. According to Florio (via Twitter), Philadelphia worked out signal-callers Terrelle Pryor and Thad Lewis.
- Lou Young, who was cut from the Jaguars’ practice squad earlier this week, was one of a handful of defensive backs to try out for the Cowboys, along with Robert Steeples and Jonte Green, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
- In addition to the previously-reported punters that worked out for the Buccaneers this week, punter Jake Dombrowski and long snapper Charley Hughlett also auditioned for the club, according to Wilson (via Twitter).
- Defensive tackle Kenny Horsley, who auditioned for the Packers earlier this week, also worked out for the Bears, per Wilson (via Twitter).
Free Agency Notes: Suh, Bryant, Pierre-Paul
Many NFL teams are focused on making the playoffs during the home stretch of the season, but many of their top players are also worried about their impending free agency. Field Yates of ESPN.com put together a list of five players who are set to receive huge contracts this offseason (subscription required).
The headliner of that list is Lions‘ defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who may be leaving Detroit this offseason for a contract in the range of what J.J. Watt received this past offseason. Dez Bryant, Justin Houston, Demaryius Thomas, and Randall Cobb also made the list of players set up to be paid after the season.
Here are some other notes on player movement this offseason:
- Along with the list of players who are ready to get big contracts, Yates also listed five players who have seen their stocks soar since the beginning of the season. Much like the five top free agents, the five soaring stocks all come from potential playoff teams. Yates points to DeMarco Murray, Jeremy Maclin, Brian Hoyer, Mark Ingram, and Chris Harris Jr..
- Bryant appears on Yates’ list of players set up for big contracts, but Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com expects the superstar wide receiver to remain with the Cowboys for at least two more seasons (via Twitter). Archer writes that the Cowboys always keep a player they want, and won’t lose Bryant if they want to keep him (via Twitter).
- One big name player who doesn’t appear on Yates’ list is Giants‘ defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. Pierre-Paul has been inconsistent since his breakout 2011 season when he recorded 16.5 sacks. The embattled Giant is ambivalent about returning to the team next year, according to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post (via Twitter). “Hey, if I’m here, I’m here,” said Pierre-Paul. “If I’m not, I’m not.”
Jets Notes: Sanchez, Ryan, Mornhinweg
Rex Ryan has always been a fan of guest speakers and this week he brought in Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter, as Brian Costello of the New York Post writes. Carter, now an ESPN analyst, spent three seasons with the Eagles under Buddy Ryan, Rex’s father. Even though he struggled with substance abuse issues in Philadelphia, Carter went on to become a star for the Vikings. More out of Florham Park, New Jersey..
- Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez still has a big fan in Ryan, writes Kimberley A. Martin of Newsday. The Jets could very well be in the market for a quarterback this offseason, but it’s hard to see a reunion going down between Gang Green and the QB once referred to as “The Sanchize.”
- The Jets would be much better off with Sanchez still under center, writes Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. Sanchez loved playing in Marty Mornhinweg‘s system and Mehta believes that the team ignored the many strides that Sanchez was making as a quarterback. With more help from the front office in building a better offense, he argues that things could have been very different for Gang Green and Sanchez.
- If it does take a 6-0 finish for coach Ryan to stay with the Jets, fans might as well start saying goodbye to their coach now, writes Seth Walder of the New York Daily News. Despite their stunning upset over the Steelers on Sunday, Walder doesn’t see them running the table on the other side of their bye.n
Extra Points: Sanchez, Palmer, Cofield, 49ers
As the Eagles and new starting quarterback Mark Sanchez continue to dominate Cam Newton and the Panthers, let’s look at some notes from around the NFL…
- The NFL is considering pushing back the window for franchises to apply for relocation, reports Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal (link via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). The current period begins on January 1, but the league may want to move it back to February 2 (the day after the Super Bowl) so that news of potential relocations doesn’t overshadow the playoffs. If the Raiders or Rams want to to move to Los Angeles, the process will likely be delayed until the postseason is complete.
- Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap examines what Sanchez’s half-season tenure as the Eagles’ QB will mean for his future earnings, noting that the ex-Jet is capable of producing similar statistics to Andy Dalton, who earns $16MM annually. Additionally, Fitzgerald looks at Sanchez’s potential effect on Nick Foles‘ future, Jeremy Maclin‘s free agency prospects, and Rex Ryan, John Idzik, and Chip Kelly’s reputations.
- In a separate piece, Fitzgerald breaks down Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer‘s three-year, $50MM extension, explaining that after 2015, the contract enables Arizona to decide yearly if they want to retain Palmer. Though he’s posted better numbers than either Jay Cutler or Alex Smith, Palmer’s two-year cash value is lower than either of those QBs, but Fitzgerald attributes that fact to Palmer’s age.
- Washington defensive tackle Barry Cofield will be activated from IR-DTR this week, tweets Mike Jones of the Washington Post. Therefore, the club will need to make a roster move by Wednesday in order to clear a space.
- We learned earlier today that the Santa Clara County DA’s office won’t file domestic violence charges against 49ers defensive end Ray McDonald, and as expected, the NFL doesn’t believe it has a basis to punish McDonald, either, according to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter).
NFC Notes: Peterson, 49ers, Palmer, Cox
The Vikings front office has become very sensitive about bringing back running back Adrian Peterson following his prolonged legal saga, writes Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com, who adds that there are “no guarantees” the club would welcome him back if he’s reinstated by the NFL. Citing multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, La Canfora writes that the Vikings harbor “serious concerns” about Peterson’s physical and mental state — while the running back accepted a no-contest plea, the team isn’t sure he recognized the seriousness of the charges he was facing. La Canfora also hears from sources that Peterson isn’t currently in game shape.
As we wait to see what the NFL and the Vikings decide to do with the former All-Pro running back, let’s check in on several other items from around the league….
- The Vikings should cut Peterson and let another team deal with the circus surrounding his return, argues Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
- 49ers nose tackle Ian Williams suffered what head coach Jim Harbaugh called a “small fracture” in his left leg today, as Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle details. The team’s regular nose tackle, Glenn Dorsey, is on track to return soon from off the injured reserve list, but if he’s not quite ready yet, Quinton Dial figures to get the start next week.
- According to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter), Carson Palmer‘s new extension features $10MM in guaranteed signing and roster bonuses, as well as a $10.5MM salary for 2015 that’s guaranteed for injury. So even though he may have torn his ACL today, the Cardinals quarterback has secured $20.5MM in guarantees over the course of this year and next year.
- Giants running back Michael Cox was in a wheelchair with what appeared to be a serious leg injury following the team’s loss in Seattle today, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com, who tweets that the club is likely to add a replacement running back this week. The Giants confirmed tonight that Cox fractured the lower part of his left leg, tweets Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News.
- Lions offensive lineman Larry Warford doesn’t have an ACL injury, a source tells Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). Warford will undergo further tests to determine the severity of his knee injury.
- Jeremy Maclin bet big on himself when he turned down a multiyear contract offer from the Eagles in the offseason to sign a one-year deal, and that decision is paying off, writes Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Teams With Most Salary On Injured Reserve
On Friday, we took a look at the league’s highest-paid players to land on season-ending injured reserve. As I explained in that post, teams have control over how they use their cap space, but have little control over players’ injuries, so if highly-paid players end up on injured reserve, clubs may have limited flexibility to adequately replace them.
The next logical step then is to examine which teams have been the hit the hardest overall by season-ending injuries this year. Of course, a player’s cap number doesn’t necessarily reflect his importance – many of the league’s best players are underpaid – but when clubs devote significant chunks of their cap room to certain players, having those guys go down with injuries can be hard to overcome.
Listed below are the 14 teams who currently have more than $10MM in player salaries on season-ending injured reserve. Players who received the designation to return when they were placed on IR aren’t taken into account here, since those players could still contribute this season. Additionally, players on practice squad IR lists aren’t included, and cap numbers rather than base salaries are considered when adding up a team’s total IR cap hit. Here’s the top 14:
- St. Louis Rams: $30,605,636 (seven players)
- New York Giants: $22,033,726 (12)
- Oakland Raiders: $21,844,733 (8)
- Washington: $15,984,975 (7)
- Tennessee Titans: $15,202,696 (7)
- Atlanta Falcons: $14,885,479 (7)
- Jacksonville Jaguars: $14,617,538 (10)
- Arizona Cardinals: $14,230,500 (4)
- Philadelphia Eagles: $12,858,000 (5)
- Miami Dolphins: $12,567,956 (8)
- Chicago Bears: $11,210,500 (4)
- Cleveland Browns: $11,147,375 (4)
- Dallas Cowboys: $11,121,121 (7)
- San Diego Chargers: $10,316,892 (7)
So is there any correlation between a team’s “dead money” on the injured reserve list and its record? On the whole, the 13 clubs on this list combine for a 52-65 record thus far, which isn’t great. However, it gets a whole lot worse when we separate the top half from the bottom half — the first seven teams on this list have combined for an incredibly dismal 14-44 record.
Would some of those teams have been cellar-dwellers even without injury problems? Most likely. It’s hard to imagine a team like the Raiders, for instance, as even a .500 squad if they’d stayed completely healthy. Still, a few of those clubs were expected to compete for playoff spots, and the fact that they’ve fallen well out of contention likely has at least something to do with how much of their cap space is currently being devoted to players who aren’t actually playing.
Information from Over The Cap was used in the creation of this post.
NFC Links: Avant, Palmer, Brooks
Panthers wide receiver Jason Avant is looking forward to returning to Philadelphia this weekend, but the veteran is also looking back on his time with the Eagles. The 30-year-old was asked about his departure from Philly, and the wideout understood that he was on the outside looking in. Via the Philly Mag’s Tim McManus…
“You have an emerging [Jeremy] Maclin, you have a receiver draft that is high on talent that year and then you just paid Riley Cooper, so you kind of put the pieces together. Me and DeSean or me and Mac, we knew two of us would be gone,” he said. “We didn’t know which one it would be but you kind of [understand] situations over the years.
“I saw my role and what they had me doing and it just didn’t make sense for them financially to keep me to do some of the things I was doing. That’s no slight at Chip [Kelly] or anyone, it’s just a good business decision. Man, if I was in the business decision I would have looked at it and said: Look, to catch bubbles and to block, we can get a rookie to do that for a lesser price. That’s just a smart move by Howie Roseman and Chip.”
“Every player wants to play in one city for their whole career, but I understood the business side of it,” he said. “I love the organization, I love [Kelly and Roseman], I don’t have any hard feelings. I’ll be giving [Kelly] a big hug when I see him. I respect him and I respect what he is doing. They’re having a great season so far and I am really, really excited for a lot of the guys there, and I still talk to a lot of people. I’m happy they’re doing well — I just hope they don’t do well this week. That’s it.”
Let’s check out some more notes from the NFC…
- The Packers will evaluate the availability of guards Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang today, and they could decide to activate lineman Josh Walker from the practice squad, writes Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel.
- The Cardinals made the correct move in signing Carson Palmer, says ESPN.com’s Josh Weinfuss. The 34-year-old’s performance since returning in mid-October has proven to the writer that the veteran was deserving of a three-year extension.
- 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh would not comment on rumors that the team was shopping linebacker Ahmad Brooks. “No, no, I don’t have any comment on that,” Harbaugh said (via ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez). “As always, no comment on those things. It would be second-hand, and I don’t have the specific knowledge.”
Eagles Notes: Sanchez, Herremans, Foles
The 6-2 Eagles sit in first place in the NFC East as they prepare to take on the Panthers on Monday Night Football. Let’s look at some notes out of Philadelphia…
- The free agent quarterback market might be intriguing in 2015, writes Albert Breer of NFL.com. As Breer notes, the FA QB crop is usually relatively weak, as teams simply don’t allow competent signal-callers to hit the open market. But with Mark Sanchez taking over for the Eagles, Ryan Mallett getting an opportunity with the Texans, and Brian Hoyer making the most of time in Cleveland, we could see several quarterbacks receive interest this offseason. Breer points to the Bills, Jets, Buccaneers, and Rams as clubs that could use an upgrade at QB.
- As I noted earlier this week when the Eagles placed him on injured reserve, Todd Herremans is no lock to return to Philadelphia next season. As Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes, Herremans’ salary will rise from $3MM to $4MM in 2015, and he’ll count $5.2MM against the cap. McLane also looks at several Eagles’ veterans who don’t have guaranteed salaries for next year, including Trent Cole, Brent Celek, and James Casey, suggesting that all are candidates for release.
- After addressing a report that the Eagles were “souring” on Nick Foles even before his injury on, Chip Kelly refused to say the Foles would return as the starting quarterback when he’s healthy. “I have no idea,” Kelly told reporters, including Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com (via Twitter), when asked if Foles would regain his job. “We could have no quarterbacks at that point in time.” It’s a typical response from Kelly, who as Mosher notes, refuses to answer hypothetical questions.
- Phil Sheridan of ESPN.com looks at the battle between Matt Tobin and Andrew Gardner, who are competing to start at left guard in Herreman’s absence.