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Latest On Los Angeles Relocation

December 24th, 2015 at 1:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf is exuding confidence as the league’s relocation vote nears, telling Raiders fans to “keep the faith” and noting that owner Mark Davis wants to stay in Oakland, according to a Bay Area News Group report.

The city and the Raiders have not generated a functional stadium plan yet, but Oakland will present its next proposal to the league on Dec. 29 or Dec. 30, the News Group’s report indicates. Although the league is not expecting a final proposal at that time.

The Raiders’ Los Angeles relocation proposal is expected to be heard by the NFL on Jan. 12 or Jan. 13.

Schaaf indicated she’s committed to keeping the Raiders in Oakland in a feasible way for taxpayers. While the mayor said the city won’t help the Raiders directly pay to build a new stadium, it will make payments for infrastructure enhancements on the 120-acre Coliseum site set to be publicly owned.

“We won’t put any public funds at risk,” Schaaf said. “… We have two things that no other city has: a fully entitled site and a team ownership that consistently says it wants to make it work in Oakland.”

Most current reports have the Raiders lagging behind the more financially sound Chargers and Rams in the Los Angeles pursuit, but a recent report listed the Raiders-Chargers Carson proposal as the preferred relocation plan of the Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities — the six-owner coalition with the most sway on this matter.

Here are some more updates on the Western-division teams’ pursuit of an LA move.

  • Oakland and the Raiders are engaging in frequent talks, but with nothing imminent, the city may be in need of the NFL voting down the Raiders’ relocation effort to create more substantive stadium negotiations, Matthew Artz of the Bay Area News Group reports. “We have to play this out,” Oakland Assistant City Administrator Claudia Cappio told Artz. “If the vote is not in their favor for Los Angeles, we come to the table with different leverage and needs, and I think we can begin to have talks in a different way.” The Rams are seen as having best plan from a funding standpoint, with the Chargers holding the most trust from the owners, Ohio University sports business professor Robert Boland told Artz. “Keeping the Raiders in Oakland is probably the least-difficult scenario for the NFL,” Boland said. Only four teams — the Packers, Bears, Saints and Bills — sport a stadium older than the Raiders’, which opened in 1966.
  • San Diego runs a greater risk of losing its team and now is contending with millions being lost in the mere research for a potential stadium site, Jeff McDonald of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The city’s spent $1.6MM in research for the Mission Valley site. However, $2.35MM has been set aside for such expenditures, as the team prepares to potentially play its final two games as the San Diego Chargers. Should the Chargers leave for Los Angeles, the aforementioned research could be used to woo another team in the future. “Regardless of what ultimately happens with the NFL, this environmental impact report is valuable to taxpayers,” Craig Gustafson, a spokesman for mayor Kevin Faulconer, told McDonald. “The environmental studies and analysis in the report can be used for a new NFL stadium, demolishing the current stadium or other future projects on the site.”

Extra Points: Draft, Rams, Chargers, LA

December 22nd, 2015 at 9:53pm CST by Dallas Robinson

After recently taking a tumble from a hotel window, Mississippi defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche has been suspended for his team’s upcoming bowl game, Daniel Paulling and Hugh Kellenberger of The Clarion-Ledger report. It’s not all bad news for Ndemkiche, however, as the junior announced that he’s forgoing his senior season to enter the NFL draft. Once a projected first-round pick, it’s unclear how recent off-field issues will affect his stock.

Here’s more from around the league…

  • Another underclassmen, Rutgers linebacker Steve Longa, is also throwing his hat in the draft ring, as he tells Dan Duggan of NJ.com. Longa, who has posted three consecutive 100-tackle seasons, says he did receive information on his draft stock from the league’s advisory board, but declined to share those specifics.
  • Ground has been broken at Hollywood Park in California, and now the only question is whether the Rams will move west, as Sam Farmer and Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times write. Rams owner Stan Kroenke, who is building the arena, plans to move ahead with its construction regardless of his club’s status. NFL owners are expected to meet in mid-January, and could vote to approve the project.
  • League sources tell Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune that neither LA plan – the Rams in Inglewood or the Raiders/Chargers in Carson – has enough owner support to pass, but each could get enough anti-votes to ensure that it does not get approved. An extra year in San Diego, write Acee, could be exactly what the Chargers need in order to make their case to stay in the area long-term.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/22/15

December 22nd, 2015 at 9:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad signings and cuts from around the NFL, with new moves added to the list throughout the day:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Minnesota Vikings

  • Signed: LB Alex Singleton (Twitter link via Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press)

New York Jets

San Diego Chargers

Seattle Seahawks

  • Signed: WR Deshon Foxx, WR Antwan Goodley (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times)
  • Cut: DT Justin Hamilton

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Chargers Place Melvin Gordon On IR

December 22nd, 2015 at 1:34pm CST by Luke Adams

TUESDAY, 1:34pm: The Chargers have officially placed Gordon on IR, promoting running back Dreamius Smith from their practice squad to replace him on the 53-man roster, per a team release.

MONDAY, 3:24pm: Another rookie will see his 2015 season come to an early end, as the Chargers are placing running back Melvin Gordon on injured reserve due to cartilage damage in his knee, head coach Mike McCoy said today (Twitter link via Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune).

While Gehlken initially indicated that Gordon will undergo surgery on the knee, Rand Getlin of the NFL Network (Twitter link) hears that Dr. James Andrews is evaluating the injury, and it’s not clear yet whether surgery will be required. Gehlken (Twitter link) has since confirmed that a decision will be put off until Gordon receives a second opinion.

It was a disappointing rookie season for Gordon, in the midst of a disappointing all-around year in San Diego. One of two backs selected in the first round – along with Todd Gurley – Gordon rushed for 641 yards on 184 attempts, an average of just 3.5 yards per carry. The 22-year-old has yet to record his first NFL touchdown or 100-yard game.

The Chargers have not yet announced a corresponding move to fill Gordon’s spot on the 53-man roster.

Titans In Lead For No. 1 Overall Pick

December 22nd, 2015 at 10:04am CST by Luke Adams

After multiple reports surfaced yesterday suggesting that a sprained MCL would keep Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota sidelined for the last two games of the season, head coach Mike Mularkey told the media that he hadn’t ruled out the rookie signal-caller for Week 17 yet, suggesting that Mariota will be re-evaluated next week.

That may be true, but it’s also true that’s it’s probably in the Titans’ best interests to shut down Mariota for the year. If Tennessee loses its final two games, the team will almost certainly land the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, and adding another marquee prospect to complement 2015’s second overall pick would significantly benefit the franchise in the long term.

While the Titans are currently in the driver’s seat for that first overall pick, the “race” isn’t over yet. Like Tennessee, the Browns also have a 3-11 record, and with the red-hot Chiefs and Steelers left on the schedule, Cleveland probably won’t win again this season. So a Titans victory against the division-rivals Texans or Colts would open the door for the Browns to snag the first overall pick.

Courtesy of NFL.com, here’s the current projected order for the top 10 picks of 2016, with two weeks left in the regular season. Teams are sorted by worst record, with strength of schedule serving as the tiebreaker — the weaker a team’s schedule, the higher its draft pick.

  1. Tennessee Titans: 3-11 (.490)
  2. Cleveland Browns: 3-11 (.520)
  3. Baltimore Ravens: 4-10 (.490)
  4. San Diego Chargers: 4-10 (.510)
  5. Dallas Cowboys: 4-10 (.551)
  6. San Francisco 49ers: 4-10 (.571)
  7. Miami Dolphins: 5-9 (.449)
  8. Jacksonville Jaguars: 5-9 (.469)
  9. New Orleans Saints: 5-9 (.526)
  10. Chicago Bears: 5-9 (.561)

West Rumors: Chargers, Raiders, Manning, Tomsula

December 21st, 2015 at 9:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

With the Cardinals and Seahawks having traded places in the standings from last season’s playoff bracket, the NFC West has been settled. The AFC West, suddenly, hasn’t, as the Chiefs are now one game back of the reeling Broncos and hold the tiebreaker.

Here’s what’s developing out of the Western teams’ locales as Week 15 concludes.

  • Between six and 14 owners have yet to decide which way they’ll vote on the relocation issue in January, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. The majority of the six owners who comprise the Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities, however, are behind the Chargers‘ and Raiders‘ Carson-based project, and their opinion will have the most sway among the 32 voters, Acee offers. San Diego, in the NFL’s opinion, being unlikely to approve public funding to be allocated toward a new Chargers stadium provides a significant stumbling block in the city’s efforts to retain the team.
  • Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio wonders if the Raiders, who have expressed no desire to replace the Rams in St. Louis, would consider a San Diego relocation if the city became serious about financing a new stadium. With the Chargers, in Florio’s view, not being inclined to wait on the city to decide on a stadium solution in order to find a more-lucrative landing spot in Los Angeles, the city won’t merely shut down football operations. Like Baltimore and St. Louis after the cities lost their teams in 1984 and 1988, respectively, Florio expects San Diego to keep pushing to land a team if the Chargers depart.
  • Gary Kubiak is open to Peyton Manning returning next week at less than 100%, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. “Absolutely. We are trying to work him back to where he feels like he can go play, and go be himself,” Kubiak said. “That’s been the plan all along but we are not there yet.” The first-year Broncos coach’s view of Manning’s health led him to maintain the status quo of Brock Osweiler atop the depth chart going into this week’s practices. Osweiler failed to lead the Broncos to any second-half points in their past three games.
  • 49ers first-year coach Jim Tomsula appears to be safe, with the team in full-on rebuilding mode, after a rocky debut, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com writes. Although owner Jed York told media, “We’ll talk about everything at the end of the season,” CBS sideline reporter Jay Feely‘s conversation with 49ers COO Al Guido can be interpreted as the 49ers showing faith in Tomsula’s process. “They knew what they were getting into when they had all the defections,” Feely said, describing Guido’s view of the offseason chaos that consumed the team. “(Guido) said they underestimated a little bit the impact that it had in the locker room, specifically the lack of leadership. . . But I think they’re confident with Jim Tomsula going forward.”

Sunday Roundup: Cowboys, RGIII, Pagano

December 20th, 2015 at 12:52pm CST by Rory Parks

Let’s take a look at some links from around the league while waiting for the murky playoff picture to begin to sort itself out:

  • Although Kellen Moore did not exactly set the world ablaze in the Cowboys‘ loss to the Jets last night, he nearly helped his team to an upset victory and demonstrated that he is a better option than Matt Cassel moving forward. However, as ESPN’s Todd Archer writes, head coach Jason Garrett is as yet unwilling to name Moore the starter for the final two games of the season. The Cowboys will need to address the backup quarterback situation behind Tony Romo next year, and it makes sense for the club to at least see what it has in Moore.
  • Last night’s loss officially eliminated the Cowboys from playoff contention, so owner Jerry Jones expects the team to put Romo on injured reserve, according to Charen Williams of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter).
  • Washington has made it clear that it is ready to move on from Robert Griffin III, but Ian Rapoport (article via Conor Orr of NFL.com) identifies a number of teams that may be interested in RGIII. That list includes the Cowboys, Eagles, Texans, and Saints (or whichever team happens to employ Sean Payton).
  • While Chuck Pagano‘s future in Indianapolis is still very much up in the air, if the Colts do decide to part ways with him, Rapoport says that he would immediately become one of the most sought-after head coaching candidates in the league. Although Pagano has previously said the Colts job would be his last coaching gig, there will apparently be no shortage of teams trying to change his mind.
  • Although things could change in the next several weeks, Mark Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com suggests that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is growing increasingly weary of his team’s performance and could be leaning towards a “clean sweep” that would see both head coach Mike Pettine and GM Ray Farmer lose their jobs. We had previously heard that one of Farmer or Pettine would be fired, but not both.
  • Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the NFL-to-Los Angeles process is getting uglier by the minute, with “members of the league’s Los Angeles committee making promises to St. Louis in an effort to keep the Rams there and publicly trashing San Diego in an effort to get the Chargers out.” Florio suggests one way to placate all parties involved may be to have Chargers owner Dean Spanos and Rams owner Stan Kroenke swap their franchises, much like the Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams were swapped in 1972. The entire article is worth reading, and although Florio concedes it is something of an outlandish idea, he suggests it could gain traction as we get closer to the critical owners meetings in January. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, however, was quick to throw cold water on that notion (via Twitter).
  • According to Rapoport (via Twitter) Leonard Hankerson, who was claimed by the Patriots this week, was released by the Falcons off the injured reserve list when he told Atlanta that he was healthy and wanted to be cut. The Falcons obliged, and now Hankerson is suited up for New England this afternoon.
  • Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com looks at the 2016 class of free agent cornerbacks.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/19/15

December 19th, 2015 at 4:28pm CST by Ben Levine

Here are Saturday’s minor transactions from around the NFL, which we’ll continue to update throughout the day…

  • Brad Sorensen‘s eventful week continues, with the Chargers again calling up the quarterback from their practice squad to the active roster, Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (on Twitter). The Bolts cut guard Craig Watts to make room. The Chargers signed Sorensen from their practice squad last Saturday as a result of Philip Rivers‘ illness, waived him Monday, re-signed him Wednesday, cut him Thursday, before re-signing the 27-year-old to the taxi squad Friday. Sounds like a lot of paperwork.
  • The Patriots are adding running back Joey Iosefa to their active roster from their practice squad, Doug Kyed of NESN.com reports. A seventh-round pick of the Buccaneers’ this year, Iosefa didn’t make the team in training camp and has resided on the Patriots’ practice squad since Oct. 21. Kyed notes Iosefa, listed at 6-foot and 245 pounds, has shed weight since joining the Pats’ practice squad and could be used as a fullback or running back behind James White and Brandon Bolden. The Pats waived/injured linebacker Eric Martin in a corresponding move. Martin suffered a concussion this week.
  • The Vikings have put former third-round pick Scott Crichton on the season-ending injured reserve, tweets Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The 24-year-old defensive lineman has only compiled 10 total tackles in 21 career games. To take his spot on the roster, the team has promoted defensive end Zach Moore from the practice squad.

AFC Notes: Jets, Patriots, Chargers

December 19th, 2015 at 11:27am CST by Ben Levine

The Jets could be seeking one or two running backs this offseason, as Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell and Stevan Ridley are set to become free agents. Responding to a letter from a reader, ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini said Eagles running back DeMarco Murray could be an option for the Gang Green.

Murray’s cap number isn’t necessarily prohibitive, it’s similar to Brandon Marshall‘s cap number when he was dealt to New York. However, the $14.5MM salary between 2016 and 2017 could make the team think twice about acquiring the All-Pro, as they’d probably be able to afford Ivory and Powell for a similar price.

Overall, Cimini doesn’t believe the Jets will invest that kind of money into one running back. The writer says the team should re-sign Ivory, draft a running back in the third or fourth round, and then use the extra money at other positions.

Let’s look at some more notes out of the AFC…

  • Patriots coach Bill Belichick added receiver Leonard Hankerson to the roster on Wednesday, and the logic behind the move was rather straight forward. “He’€™s been a good player and he was available,” Belichick said (via Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com). “It’€™s not that frequent that you see players like that available at this time of year, so we claimed him.”
  • Hankerson, meanwhile, is doing his best to learn the Patriots’ complicated offense. “It’€™s a totally different system than what I was in, so you’€™ve got to come in and work hard,” he said (via Petraglia). “You’€™ve got to get the playbook down, you’€™ve got to know what you’€™re doing, and you’€™ve got to be on top of your stuff. The most important thing is just knowing what you’€™re doing: Knowing where to line up, knowing how to get back to the locker room, learn how everything is done around here.”
  • Chargers defensive lineman Corey Liuget has been ruled out for the rest of the season, and the 25-year-old acknowledge that he played much of the season with a knee injury. “It was not the season I planned,” Liuget told Tom Krasovic of The San Diego Union-Tribune. “It was nowhere near what I wanted.”

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/18/15

December 18th, 2015 at 5:42pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are today’s practice squad signings, cuts, and other notes from around the NFL:

Indianapolis Colts

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Increased salary: DL Caushaud Lyons (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com)
    • Earning $25,588 per week

San Diego Chargers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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