D.J. Hayden

Sunday Roundup: Kaep, Bradford, Washington

Afters weeks of anxious buildup, the 2016 NFL draft is now over, but we’ll still be discussing the fallout from the draft years down the line. Let’s take a look at some of that fallout right now, along with a couple of other notes:

  • The draft has come and gone, and Colin Kaepernick is still a 49er. As Eric Branch of The San Francisco Chronicle writes, the 49ers‘ actions during the draft–i.e. waiting until the sixth round to pick up raw signal-caller Jeff Driskel, instead of drafting a more pro-ready prospect in the early rounds as many pundits anticipated–suggest that one of Kaepernick or Blaine Gabbert will be the team’s starter in 2016. And, since Kaepernick’s most likely suitors drafted quarterbacks of their own, it looks like we can finally put the Kaepernick rumors on ice for a little while.
  • We learned last night that the Eagles have not had any contact with Sam Bradford since Bradford requested a trade, and head coach Doug Pederson–who is installing a new offense that projected backup quarterback Chase Daniel is very familiar with–admitted that Bradford is losing valuable time, as Kevin Patra of NFL.com writes. Philadelphia continues to insist that Bradford is the starter, but that could change if he misses significant offseason time. When Pederson was asked at what point Bradford loses the role of presumptive starter, Pederson said, “I think it depends on when he does come back and how fast we can catch him up and put him in that situation and see where he’s at, at that time.”
  • Washington was widely lauded for its selection of TCU wideout Josh Doctson in the first round of the draft, but, as anticipated, his arrival probably means the end of Andre Roberts‘ tenure in the nation’s capital, as Mike Jones of The Washington Post writes. Likewise, Jones writes that the addition of Virginia Tech corner Kendall Fuller could allow the team to release Chris Culliver, whose health status is still uncertain after his ACL surgery and who is due an $8MM salary–with a $9.25MM cap number–in 2016.
  • During his post-draft press conference Saturday night, Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie declined to tip his hand as to whether the club will pick up D.J. Hayden‘s fifth-year option, but as Jimmy Durkin of The Bay Area News Group points out, the team will almost certainly decline the $8.03MM option, thereby allowing Hayden to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2016 season. Durkin admits it was somewhat surprising that Oakland did not draft a corner over the past couple of days, as the Raiders are still thin at the position even after signing Sean Smith. The Raiders’ approach suggests that they expect Hayden to provide quality depth as a fourth corner, but he will have to prove himself in a big way in 2016 to remain with the club (and to remain in the league, for that matter).
  • Most GMs like to say that they do not reach for need during the draft and that they will select the best player available, regardless of position. As Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk writes, Panthers GM Dave Gettleman admitted last night that he adapted his strategy to make sure the team could adequately fill out its defensive back depth chart after the Josh Norman saga that ended when Norman signed with Washington. To that end, Carolina drafted three corners–James Bradberry, Daryl Worley, and Zack Sanchez–that looked like reaches to many fans. Gettleman insisted, though, that he did not reach, but he had to focus on corners to prevent a “position disaster.”
  • Greg Auman of The Tampa Bay Times expected the Buccaneers to draft one defensive end and one tackle, and while Tampa Bay did draft a DE (Noah Spence), the team did not grab a DT. As such, Auman expects the club to sign a DT before training camp opens (Twitter link).
  • Former Panthers offensive lineman Edmund Kugbila, whom Carolina selected in the fourth round of the 2013 draft but who has yet to play a single professional snap due to various injuries, has been medically cleared to play and has several visits lined up, according to Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).

More Minor Moves: Saturday

Our first post featuring the minor moves of the day filled up pretty quickly, so here is a second place to see some of Saturday’s later day transactions. As always, if there are any more moves, this post will be updated at the top.

Minor Moves: Saturday

Here are today’s minor transactions, with the latest updates at the top of the list:

  • The Raiders are set to activate cornerback D.J. Hayden, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The No. 12 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, Hayden played in eight games as a rookie and started two. The club has filled their other remaining vacancy by signing defensive end Denico Autry to the active roster, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
  • The Rams placed Brandon McGee on the injured reserve with a foot injury while replacing him with Jemea Thomas from the practice squad, tweets Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. McGee hasn’t played since Week 2.
  • The Dolphins announced (on Twitter) that they have waived wide receiver Damian Williams to make space for Jordan.
  • The Dolphins are moving defensive end Dion Jordan to the active roster today, tweets Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. There’s no word yet on a corresponding move, but they’ll have to cut someone to make space. Jordan was recently reinstated from his six-game suspension.
  • The Cardinals signed wide receiver Solomon Patton to their practice squad while cutting fellow WR Jalen Saunders, tweets Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com.
  • The Ravens waived tight end Ryan Taylor and promoted fellow tight end Phillip Supernaw from the practice squad, tweets Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com.
  • The Lions announced that they have suspended defensive tackle C.J. Mosley for two weeks for conduct detrimental to the team and subsquently sent him home from London earlier today. To fill his spot, Detroit has signed safety Jerome Couplin from the practice squad, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (on Twitter).
  • In addition to center Daniel Kilgore, the 49ers have also placed cornerback Chris Cook on the injured reserve. The team has signed safety Bubba Ventrone to fill one of the two roster spots.
  • The Jaguars have cut wide receiver Tavarres King and signed cornerback Peyton Thompson, tweets Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. The writer adds that the move was made as insurance in case injured cornerback Dwayne Gratz can’t play this weekend.
  • Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot tweets that center Nick McDonald was activated from the Browns‘ non-football injury list. To make room on the roster, the team waived tight end Gerell Robinson.

AFC Notes: Burfict, Hoyer, Jets, Patriots

The NFL will review film of Sunday’s game between the Bengals and Panthers and look for evidence that Cincinnati linebacker Vontaze Burfict tried to intentionally injure Carolina players, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). As detailed by David Newton of ESPN.com earlier today, Panthers tight end Greg Olsen complained that Burfict is something of a head-hunter. “At some point, if the NFL wants to really say they care about guys’ safety, they’ve got to start putting guys out for weeks,” said Olsen. “Me and Cam (Newton) are lucky we aren’t out for weeks, or Kelvin (Benjamin) isn’t out for weeks. If you’re going to start putting guys on other teams out, then the ramifications need to equal that.” One play that will probably be analyzed can be viewed here. For his part, Burfict suffered another concussion on Sunday, so he will probably be out of action for some time, regardless of any disciplinary action.

Let’s close out the night with more from the AFC:

  •  In response to speculation that Brian Hoyer wouldn’t be interested in an extension with the Browns unless Johnny Manziel was no longer on the roster, Hoyer’s agent, Joe Linta, told Jeff Schudel of the News-Herald: “No talks at this time, and Johnny Manziel’s presence will have no impact on any talks that we might have.”
  • Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap looks at some questions Jets owner Woody Johnson might be facing this offseason, including whether John Idzik and Rex Ryan are the right men for their respective jobs. It’s fair to assume something of an overhaul will occur in New York once the season concludes, and Fitzgerald’s piece raises some valid points.
  • More Jets: In the wake of several injuries sustained in yesterday’s contest, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com writes Phillip Adams and Darrin Walls will act as Gang Green’s starting corners going forward, while Oday Aboushi will make his first career start in place of Brian Winters at left guard.
  • Now that Stevan Ridley is out for the rest of the season, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe wonders (via Twitter) if Bill Belichick and the Patriots regret letting LeGarrette Blount walk in free agency. There’s obviously no way New England could have predicted the loss of Ridley, but Blount would fit in nicely as the power back in the Pats’ offense right now.
  • Despite investing nearly $30MM in their O-line this season, the Titans are in the middle of the pack in rushing and are 29th in sacks per pass play, writes Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. While those are simple measures, they show that the Titans are getting the worst bang for their buck on the offensive line in the NFL. The Titans last two first-round picks (Taylor Lewan and Chance Warmack) were offensive linemen and Andy Levitre and Michael Oher were signed to significant free agent deals.
  • As our Luke Adams recently noted, Raiders cornerback D.J. Hayden is among the players on IR-DTR who can resume practicing this week. Per Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com (Twitter link), that’s the plan with Hayden, as Oakland head coach Tony Sparano says all systems are go for the second-year player.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

PUP, IR-DTR Players Soon Eligible To Practice

Week 6 of the NFL season will come to an end after Monday night’s game between the 49ers and Rams, and when teams begin preparing for Week 7, many of those clubs may be welcoming some players back to practice. Six weeks into the NFL season, players who were placed on the physically unable to perform list or the injured reserve list with the designation to return prior to Week 1’s games will be eligible to return to practice.

Of course, just because those players are able to return to the practice field doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be healthy enough to do so. Players on the PUP list have a five-week window to begin practicing. Once they return to practice, they have three weeks to be added to their respective teams’ active rosters. In other words, a player on the PUP list could theoretically return for his team’s Week 7 game, or could return as late as for his team’s Week 15 contest. If the player doesn’t return to practice or game action in time, he’ll revert to season-ending injured reserve.

Here are the players currently on the physically unable to perform list who can begin practicing as soon as next week:

Players who began the season on the PUP list didn’t participate in any preseason practices, but that’s not the case for players on the injured reserve list with the designation to return. Teams can use this spot on one player per season, placing him on the injured reserve list without necessarily ruling him out for the season. As we explained in an earlier post, players given this designation can begin practicing after six weeks and can return after eight weeks.

That means that players who were placed on IR-DTR prior to Week 1 can begin practicing next week. A player who was placed on IR-DTR after – for instance – Week 2 will have to wait another two weeks to return to practice.

Here’s the list of players currently on IR-DTR who can begin practicing as soon as next week:

Latest AFC Moves: Bills, Raiders, Browns, Jags

A handful of AFC clubs have announced roster moves this morning as they look to reduce their rosters to 75 players. Teams now have less than five hours until 2014’s first cutdown deadline arrives. Here’s the latest:

  • Linebacker Kiko Alonso has been moved to the Bills‘ reserve/non-football injury list, per Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Buffalo had already reduced its roster to 75 players, so the team actually has room to make an addition today, if it so chooses.
  • Although the Raiders hadn’t been expected to make an official decision on D.J. Hayden‘s status to open the season until the weekend, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that the club has indeed decided to place the cornerback on the PUP list, meaning he’ll be sidelined for at least the first six weeks of the regular season.
  • The Browns have placed a pair of players – offensive lineman Michael Bowie and linebacker Darius Eubanks – on injured reserve, the team announced today (Twitter link). Both players underwent shoulder surgeries earlier in August. Cleveland will have to make one more roster move to cut down from 76 players to 75.
  • Jaguars cornerback Aaron Colvin has also landed on the reserve/non-football injury list, tweets John Oesher of Jaguars.com. The move puts Jacksonville’s roster at 75 active players.

West Notes: Hill, Farwell, Hayden

Let’s look at a few notes from the league’s west divisions to wrap up this Monday evening:

  • Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, in the wake of Sam Bradford‘s season-ending injury, has reiterated that St. Louis has not engaged other teams in talks regarding a potential quarterback trade.
  • On a related note, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com writes that Fisher emphasized that Shaun Hill will be the Rams‘ starting quarterback going forward.
  • Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun tweets that Colton Schmidt, who was waived by the 49ers earlier today, could draw interest from other clubs looking to make an upgrade at punter. Schmidt led all punters in net yards this preseason.
  • Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times writes that Seahawks backup middle linebacker and special teams captain Heath Farwell will likely need surgery to repair the extensive groin damage that he suffered in Friday’s preseason game against Chicago. Farwell’s injury essentially locks up a roster spot for undrafted free agent Brock Coyle.
  • Kevin Acee of U-T San Diego reports that Chargers‘ guard Jeromey Clary will begin the season on the PUP list, thereby forcing him to miss at least the first six games of the regular season.
  • Bill Williamson of ESPN.com writes that the Raiders may have found a diamond in the rough in defensive back Neiko Thorpe, who was signed to a futures contract in January.
  • Citing head coach Dennis Allen, Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that Raiders corner D.J. Hayden, who is recovering from foot surgery, looked a lot better today working with trainers on the sidelines. The team will not make a decision regarding whether Hayden should go on the PUP list until Saturday’s deadline.

AFC Notes: Bengals, Ballard, Manziel, Raiders

Linebacker J.K. Schaffer played in nine games for the Bengals in 2013, making most of his impact on special teams. However, the former undrafted rookie understands that a roster spot is not guaranteed, and he explained to Bill Koch of Cincinnati.com that the situation isn’t too different from last year…

“The only difference now is that I’ve done it,” Schaffer said. “I’ve been there. I’ve played in games, so that’s a good feeling, knowing that I’m not just trying to get to the point where I do play in a game.

“With this league, you’ve always got to fight to keep your job no matter who you are.”

Schaffer would be vying for the third middle linebacker spot behind Rey Maualuga and Vincent Rey and will likely be competing with fellow special team’s ace Jayson DiManche.

Let’s check out some more notes from the AFC…

  • Colts running back Vick Ballard was carted off the field this afternoon, and sources tell ESPN’s Chris Mortensen that the player has a torn ACL (via Twitter). Ballard missed last season with the same injury.
  • Johnny Manziel‘s off-the-field antics have “alarmed” some within the Browns organization, reports Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. The writer notes that some feel that the rookie quarterback has “lost ground” to Brian Hoyer heading into camp.
  • Meanwhile, Browns head coach Mike Pettine said that Manziel came to camp “focused” and called the quarterback competition “open,” tweets the Akron Beacon Journal’s Nate Ulrich.
  • Projected starting cornerback D.J. Hayden is still recovering from foot surgery and could miss several more weeks, but Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie explains to Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle that his club doesn’t “want to push the panic button yet” and sign another corner.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Raiders Notes: Coliseum, Tuck, Hayden

The ten-year lease that would have kept the Oakland Athletics playing in the Coliseum for at least a decade has not been made official. That’s because Oakland representatives and Alameda County representatives can’t decide whether they want to continue with the deal. The four Oakland officials failed to show up to Friday’s vote, boycotting the process. As a result, neither side is too pleased. Via Matthew Artz of the Oakland Tribune

“We are constantly frustrated by the actions of our partners,” the Alameda County supervisor, Nate Miley, said. “Not being able to vote on this deal today, I think that sends a chilling message… to Major League Baseball that is very disappointing.”

Oakland representative Larry Reid responded:

“Nate shouldn’t be trying to run the [Joint Powers Authority] like a dictatorship.”

Meanwhile, A’s co-owner Lew Wolff remains optimistic:

“We understand the city will take one last look at the transaction early next week. And we would expect a formal vote by the JPA by the end of the week.”

The Raiders are certainly monitoring the entire situation. As Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com points out, the team only has a one-year lease and can move anywhere as soon as 2015.

Let’s check out some more Coliseum and Raiders news…

  • Dr. David Chao, a former NFL head team physician with 17 years of experience, wrote a piece for the National Football Post detailing the injury risks associated with playing in the Coliseum. He particularly focused on the risks of playing on dirt, which could lead to leg injuries, risky skin abrasions and severe concussions. Furthermore, the 50-year-old stadium doesn’t cater to injured players, who have to climb three flights of stairs to reach the stadium’s x-ray room.
  • Justin Tuck is enjoying his time in the Bay Area, but he admitted to Conor Orr of the Star-Ledger that he expected to be back with the Giants. You spend nine years in one place. You have a lot of success there and a lot of great friends. So yeah, it’s going to be weird but I understand the business side of things and you need to move forward…To answer your question, I am still surprised I’m not a New York Giant.”
  • The Raiders were very active this offseason, but ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez says the team still could have improved their wide receiver and tight end depth. The writer brings up an analogy from head coach Dennis Allen, who compared it to “sitting on Santa’s lap and not getting quite everything you asked for.”
  • The Raiders’ lack of interest in Brandon Flowers indicates that the team is comfortable with D.J. Hayden and may not pursue a veteran cornerback, Gutierrez writes.

NFC Links: Kluwe, Hayden, Ponder

The Chris Kluwe investigation is coming to an end. According to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the lawyers in charge of the case estimate that the process will be finished in the next ten days.

Kluwe, who claimed his 2013 release by the Vikings was related to his support for same-sex marriage, has yet to find a job this season. Former coach Leslie Frazier was fired in late December, but special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer (who Kluwe accused of making “homophobic remarks”) was retained by new coach Mike Zimmer.

Let’s see what else is happening in the NFC…

  • Christian Ponder doesn’t have better than “an outside chance” of being the Vikings starting quarterback, writes ESPN.com’s Ben Goessling. According to the writer, the former first-round pick hasn’t done anything “to suggest he’s changed enough to challenge for the job.”
  • D.J. Hayden missed another practice this afternoon, and Raiders coach Dennis Allen doesn’t sound too optimistic about a quick return. “It’s hard to tell,” Allen said (via Steve Corkran of The Mercury News). “Initially I was hopeful of (a quick return). Hopefully we’ll have him out here, because he needs the work.”
  • Former Lions (and current Bears) defensive end Willie Young doesn’t have any hard feeling against his former team. “They did [show interest] but we definitely broke ways on good terms,” Young said (via Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com). “I definitely enjoyed my years here, I can say that. Thankful for the opportunity I was able to create for myself here and landing me in Chicago right now.”