Details On Lane Johnson’s Lawsuit
Earlier this year, Eagles tackle Lane Johnson filed suit against the NFL and NFLPA for what he said were unfair practices in the wake of his ten-game suspension. We now have some new information on the lawsuit, courtesy of Alex Marvez of The Sporting News. 
Johnson was hit with a ten-game ban as a repeat offender of the league’s policy on performance enhancing drugs. When it comes to this latest positive test, he insists that it was the result of taking an NFLPA-approved supplement. He also says the appeals process was flawed, noting that arbitrator James H. Carter previously represented the NFL in other matters. Carter’s firm received millions of dollars from the NFL for said work and Johnson says that led to bias. The union, he says, was negligent in allowing Carter to swing the gavel. The NFLPA has countered by saying that Carter was a “properly selected neutral arbitrator with impeccable credentials and no evident partiality in this matter.”
Johnson has already served his suspension, but he is continuing his fight in an effort to recoup his lost salary as well as having $25MM+ in guarantees reinstated in his five-year, $56MM deal. Both the NFL and the NFLPA have moved to have the case dismissed without prejudice, but a win in the courts could have far-reaching implications for all parties involved.
NFC Notes: Lions, Stafford, Eagles, Seahawks, Bears
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford suffered a hamstring injury and a sprained ankle in Detroit’s 27-24 loss to Carolina, a source tells ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano. Stafford’s status is currently up in the air and his week of practice will determine whether he plays Sunday against New Orleans. The good news is that if Stafford does miss time, it sounds like it won’t be a lengthy absence.
Here’s a look at the NFC:
- Eagles coach Doug Pederson admitted to reporters that it’s going to be tough to get lineman Lane Johnson through the league’s concussion protocol in time for Thursday night’s game (Twitter link via Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com).
- Seahawks running back Chris Carson lost a good chunk of money thanks to his injury and the split in his contract, as Joel Corry of CBSSports.com (on Twitter) points out. His weekly salary is now based off $348K while on IR rather than $465K.
- Bears linebacker John Timu, who was carted off the field on Sunday with a scary-looking injury, only suffered a high-ankle sprain (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). He’ll be out 2-4 weeks, which is a much better prognosis than many expected at first.
NFC East Rumors: Jones, Johnson, Giants
Jerry Jones spoke at length after Sunday’s Packers-Cowboys game and expanded on his stance about players’ protests that have intensified this season. The longtime owner announced a policy that figures to be a key talking point across the league.
“If there’s anything that is disrespectful to the flag, then we will not play,” Jones said, via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. “OK? Understand? If we are disrespecting the flag, then we won’t play. Period. Period. We’re going to respect the flag, and I’m going to create the perception of it. And we have.”
Although no Cowboys decided to sit or kneel during the national anthem today, David Irving and Damontre Moore raised their fists. Jones was asked directly about that. It’s not known if the owner considers what the defensive ends did as disrespecting the flag. Jones said he was “not aware” of Irving and Moore’s protests and called the team “very much on the same page together” regarding this issue. The defensive linemen (via Williams) each did not view it as such. Jones’ decree comes two weeks after the owner knelt with his team during a nationally televised game against the Cardinals, doing so before the anthem played.
The NFLPA also released a statement after these comments and Vice President Mike Pence’s decision to leave the 49ers-Colts game once players knelt during the anthem.
“NFL players are union members and part of the labor movement that has woven the fabric of America for generations,” the statement read (via Mike Florio of PFT). “Our men and their families are also conscientious Americans who continue to be forces for good through our communities and some have decided to use their platform to peacefully raise awareness to issues that deserve attention. … We should not stifle these discussions and cannot allow our rights to become subservient to the very opinions our Constitution protects.”
Shifting to on-the-field matters in this division, here’s the latest on that front.
- Lane Johnson may have a difficult time taking the field for the Eagles on Thursday after suffering a concussion in Philadelphia’s Week 5 rout of the Cardinals. While the Eagles said their right tackle left the game because of a head injury, Les Bowen of Philly.com reports a concussion caused Johnson to miss the second half. Halapoulivaati Vaitai took over for Johnson at right tackle and would seemingly be in line to start there Thursday night against the Panthers, with the league’s concussion protocol making it difficult for players to return on short weeks.
- The Giants lost four wide receivers during their loss to the Chargers on Sunday, and while Odell Beckham Jr.‘s broken fibula will hit the team hardest, Big Blue also will likely be without Sterling Shepard in the near future. The complementary wideout sprained an ankle and is expected to miss a couple of weeks, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). The Giants believe this injury is similar to one Shepard suffered over the summer. The Giants will travel to Denver next week and will likely have to make roster moves before taking the field against the Broncos, considering Brandon Marshall and Dwayne Harris also left the game due to injuries. Beckham and Harris will be out for sure, with the latter fracturing his foot.
- Adding to this nightmarish Giants season that’s spiraled to 0-5, Eli Manning underwent a neck X-ray after the loss to the Chargers, John Healy of the New York Daily News notes. The 36-year-old quarterback’s X-ray was negative, however. Manning has never missed a start since taking over in that role midway through his rookie season.
OL Notes: Colts, Peters, Giants, Falcons
Jim Irsay is generally unafraid to make bold statements, and the longtime Colts owner made another recently by proclaiming the team’s embattled offensive line as “fixed.” Andrew Luck took the second-most hits of any quarterback last season at 128 despite missing a game due to a concussion. The team also allowed the fifth-most sacks with 46. Luck missed nine games in 2015 with a shoulder injury and absorbed plenty of hits before that season-ending malady. And the Colts did not make any big additions this offseason, former Titans starter Brian Schwenke‘s one-year deal notwithstanding.
“Let me say this: The offensive line is fixed,” Irsay said, via Mike Wells of ESPN.com. “I’m telling you guys, the offensive line is fixed. The reason I’ll tell you it’s fixed is because (former Colts offensive line coach) Howard Mudd told me it’s fixed. If Howard Mudd tells you it’s fixed, trust me, it’s fixed.”
The Colts do return an entrenched left side of the line in Anthony Castonzo, Jack Mewhort and Ryan Kelly. Wells projects Joe Haeg to start at right guard and Le’Raven Clark to man right tackle. Irsay added the team may be ready to run more in 2017. Indianapolis did add fourth-round running back Marlon Mack and UFA Christine Michael to join Frank Gore. The Colts ranked 16th with 25.6 rushing attempts per game last season.
“We’ve worked hard to bring in the right type of players (on the offensive line),” Irsay said. “We’re ready to run the football and protect Andrew.”
Here’s the latest news on some other offensive lines, moving first to the Eagles’.
- Jason Peters did not attend the Eagles‘ OTA sessions but will be back for minicamp, Bob Ford of Philly.com notes. Lane Johnson worked at left tackle in the 35-year-old’s stead. Peters will be back with the team despite the Eagles approaching him about a paycut in February and the sides not agreeing on one. Ford notes Johnson is expected to slide over to the left side after Peters’ Philadelphia tenure concludes.
- The Giants‘ tackle situation is not as enviable, but a consensus appears to be forming. Big Blue seems to agree with the Chargers’ coaching staffs of the past two years. D.J. Fluker did not play right tackle during OTAs, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com notes, focusing strictly on guard duty. Even after Bobby Hart was absent during the team’s final OTA sessions, sixth-round rookie Adam Bisnowaty took first-team reps instead of Fluker on the right edge, Raanan writes. Fluker played right tackle during his first two seasons in San Diego, but the Giants are going with Hart — a 2015 seventh-round pick — right now. This means Fluker may have a tougher time auditioning, barring injury, for a long-term contract with the Giants re-signing holdover right guard John Jerry. Fluker is signed to a one-year deal.
- Ben Garland may be ready to stick on one side of the ball this season and will probably see time in consecutive seasons for the first time in his career. Used on defense as well during the Falcons‘ NFC championship season, Garland will battle Wes Schweitzer for the right guard job vacated by Chris Chester, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Schweitzer was a sixth-round pick last year who did not suit up as a rookie. Ledbetter notes the 29-year-old Garland may have a slight upper hand going into minicamp. Garland’s previous opportunity to vie for a starting job ended quickly, with the 2015 Broncos bringing in Evan Mathis midway through training camp after Garland worked with Denver’s first-stringers at that camp’s outset. Garland, though, played in all 19 Falcons games last season after spending most of the ’15 season on Atlanta’s practice squad.
Lane Johnson Files Suit Against NFL, NFLPA
Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson continues to contest the 10-game suspension the NFL handed him back in August for violating its policy on performance-enhancing substances. Johnson has filed a suit in federal court against both the league and the NFLPA, according to Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com (Twitter link). The 26-year-old wants the court to vacate his penalties.
This is the next step in a long fight for Johnson, who unsuccessfully appealed his ban earlier in the season and sat out from mid-October until early December as a result. Not only did the suspension cost Johnson most of the season, but he also lost 10 weeks of his $675K base salary and $1.5MM of his $10MM signing bonus. Worse, it voided the $25MM in guarantees remaining on Johnson’s contract. He’ll still be able to earn that money, but he’ll have to do it on a year-to-year basis if the court doesn’t rule in his favor.
Between the failed appeal and Friday’s decision, Johnson elected in November to file charges against both the league and the union with the National Labor Relations Board. He also filed a claim against the NFLPA with the Department of Labor.
“During Lane’s appeal, it became apparent that the written words in the collectively bargained Performance-Enhancing Substances (“PES”) Policy, under which Lane was disciplined, are meaningless,” attorney Steve Zashin stated at the time. “The PES Policy, as written, guarantees rights, protections and due process to players in recognition of the enormous consequences of discipline. The NFL and the NFLPA have undermined these protections leaving the players -including Lane — with a hollowed-out process devoid of any protections. The actions of the NFL and NFLPA violate federal law.”
Johnson maintains that he unknowingly took a tainted amino acid, which led to the failed drug test over the summer, and has argued that the NFLPA’s Aegis Shield app did not flag the supplement he took. He’s also irked that only two arbitrators handled his case, which seemingly violates the league’s collective bargaining agreement. According to the CBA, three to five arbitrators should’ve been assigned. Zashin reiterated that Friday and added that one of the arbitrators was affiliated with the league, creating a conflict of interest (Twitter link). While Zashin didn’t name the arbitrator, he was alluding to James Carter, who oversaw the league’s Ray Rice investigation in 2014.
Notably, the suspension Johnson served in 2016 wasn’t his first. He previously sat four games in 2014 after testing positive for PEDs.
Eagles Activate Lane Johnson
The Eagles announced that Lane Johnson has been formally activated for this week. To clear a spot, running back Kenjon Barner was placed on the injured reserve list. 
Johnson, of course, was hit with a 10-game suspension earlier this year and his appeal was unsuccessful. The tackle maintained that he was not given proper information from the NFL or NFLPA regarding banned substances and he took action against both. Ultimately, he would up serving a lengthy suspension as a repeat PED offender. He’ll be back in action for the final two games of the year, but these, unfortunately, are largely meaningless games for Philly. Next up for the Eagles is an opportunity to block the Giants from potentially taking the division.
Barner, meanwhile, is being shut down after suffering a hamstring injury.
Albert Breer On Johnson, Cousins, Draft
We have conflicting reports on the Redskins and their plans for pending free agent Kirk Cousins. Earlier today, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reported that the Redskins are willing to use the franchise tag on Cousins for the second consecutive year, if necessary. However, Albert Breer of The MMQB is hearing the opposite.
The Redskins still want to lock Cousins up, but Breer’s understanding is that they will only go so far to keep him. He also cautions that the team’s stance could change in the coming months.
Unless Cousins falls apart in the second half of the season, I would expect the Redskins to do whatever it takes to keep him under contract. Since being handed the job in 2015, Cousins has a 68.7% completion percentage, 7,257 yards, and 46 touchdowns against 18 interceptions. The Redskins might not want to pay him nearly $25MM/year on a new deal, but they also know that they won’t be able to replicate that production any other way.
Here’s more from Breer:
- Eagles lineman Lane Johnson is fighting his 10-game suspension and Breer has the specifics on his argument. For starters, the performance-enhancing substance policy calls for a panel of 3-5 arbitrators, and Johnson’s reps note that there were only two assigned to his case. One of those arbitrators, James Carter, handled the Ray Rice investigation for the NFL and his cozy relationship with the league could be a conflict of interest, one that was not disclosed to Johnson. Johnson is also going after the NFLPA, in part because he says their Aegis Shield app for checking supplements did not flag what he was taking.
- Executives around the NFL are high on Ohio State’s Marshon Lattimore. The cornerback appears to have better grades than former Buckeye Eli Apple did last season and that should put him in the first round. “He’s smooth—a good athlete with good ball skills,” said one AFC executive. “There’s not a lot bad to him. He’s a first-rounder.” Still, Lattimore will have to silence some concerns about his speed. “He’s big, strong, athletic, good ball skills,” one scout assigned to the Buckeyes said. “But you still feel like you need to see more, because he only has 11 career starts and they rotate three guys. You want to see his speed. I don’t know if he’ll run 4.4, and he hasn’t been tested like he will this weekend.”
- Meanwhile, North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky could be in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick. The redshirt junior could choose to stay in school, but it would be hard for him to turn down such a golden opportunity. Two NFC execs pegged Trubisky as a Top 10 pick, praising his accuracy, vision, and overall arm talent. The Tar Heel’s biggest liability could be his perceived leadership ability. While there are no character concerns, Trubisky is not as outspoken and outgoing as some evaluators would like. The Browns are reportedly focusing on Trubisky.
Latest On Lane Johnson
Lane Johnson‘s fight isn’t over, even after an unsuccessful appeal of his 10-game suspension. The Eagles lineman has reportedly filed charges against both the NFL and the NFL Players Association with the National Labor Relations Board, attorney Steve Zashin told ESPN’s Adam Caplan (via ESPN’s Tim McManus). Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com passes along more specifics on the charges (via Twitter). Johnson filed unfair labor practice charges against the NFL and NFLPA with the NLRB. The 26-year-old also filed a claim against the Players Association with the Department of Labor.
Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com believes the issue was likely sparked “from accusations Johnson made about the accuracy of information provided to players regarding banned substances.” The NFLPA has since denied Johnson’s assertions, while the lineman’s lawyers have pushed the Players Association to investigate why news of the suspension was originally leaked to the media.
“During Lane’s appeal, it became apparent that the written words in the collectively bargained Performance-Enhancing Substances (“PES”) Policy, under which Lane was disciplined, are meaningless,” Zashin said in a statement (via NFL.com’s Albert Breer on Twitter).
“The PES Policy, as written, guarantees rights, protections and due process to players in recognition of the enormous consequences of discipline.
“The NFL and the NFLPA have undermined these protections leaving the players -including Lane — with a hollowed-out process devoid of any protections. The actions of the NFL and NFLPA violate federal law.
“Lane trusts that he can get a fair hearing with the NLRB and the DOL.”
We first learned of Johnson’s 10-game suspension back in August. Johnson immediately attributed the positive test to contaminated amino acids, as the lineman said he had confirmed the supplement’s contents with an NFLPA-approved application. After a month-long appeal process, the suspension was ultimately upheld. That meant Johnson’s suspension began in mid-October, preventing the lineman from taking the field until Week 16.
This was Johnson’s second career ban. The lineman was also suspended four games in 2014 after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The former first-rounder inked a five-year, $56.26MM ($21MM guaranteed) extension with the Eagles back in January.
Lane Johnson’s Suspension Upheld
Lane Johnson‘s 10-game suspension has been upheld by the NFL, attorney Steve Zashin tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Johnson’s ban initially came down over the summer, but he has been fighting the decision. Now, the fight is over and Johnson will be out of action until Philly’s Week 16 game against the Giants.
Johnson tested positive for PEDs in August but he claimed that he unknowingly took a tainted amino acid. His previous positive test for PEDs probably hurt his credibility on the matter. Johnson had $25MM in remaining guarantees on his contract, but that money is no longer secured thanks to the suspension.
Without Johnson, the Eagles will be missing a key part of their O-Line for the bulk of the season. Johnson, the fourth overall pick in 2013, has been a starter for the Eagles since the team drafted him out of Oklahoma, playing primarily at right tackle before spending some time at left tackle in 2015.
Now that Johnson’s ban has been upheld, Philadelphia will reportedly start Halapoulivaati Vaitai at right tackle in order to leave Allen Barbre at left guard.
This past season, Pro Football Focus ranked Johnson 24th among 81 qualified offensive tackles.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Eagles OT Lane Johnson
Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson‘s appeal of his 10-game PED suspension has concluded, according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter links). As expected, no decision has yet to be announced, but Johnson’s attorney Steve Zashin did release a statement.
[RELATED: LB Nigel Bradham Arrested]
“There are a number of issues related to Lane’s appeal,” said Zashin. “Many of those issues strike at the heart of substantive player protections. We await the decision of the arbitrator. In the meantime Lane will prepare and play as scheduled.”
f the Eagles are without Johnson for more than half the season, it would be a crushing blow to their O-Line and offense as a whole. Johnson, the fourth overall pick in 2013, has been a starter for the Eagles since the team drafted him out of Oklahoma, playing primarily at right tackle before spending some time at left tackle in 2015.
In his three years with the Eagles, he has only missed four games due to his first PED suspension. This past season, Pro Football Focus ranked Johnson 24th among offensive tackles, out of 81 qualified players at the position.
The Eagles expect Johnson to be available for Sunday’s game against the Lions, reports Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. But if Johnson’s ban is upheld, Philadelphia is considering employing Halapoulivaati Vaitai as a starter at right tackle in order to leave Allen Barbre at left guard, Ed Werder of ESPN.com tweets.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.