Week In Review News & Rumors

The headlines from the past week at PFR:

Key News:

• The Raiders extended receiver Michael Crabtree, signing the veteran pass-catcher to a four-year deal worth $35MM (~$19MM in guarantees).
• The Browns and breakout star tight end Gary Barnidge agreed to a three-year, $12.3MM extension, with $5.5MM guaranteed.
• Less than one season into a three-year deal, cornerback Cary Williams was waived by the Seahawks.
• The Rams fired offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, promoting tight ends coach Rob Boras to fill his position.

Extended:

• Cardinals – Justin Bethel, CB (through 2018)
• Raiders – Jamize Olawale, RB/FB (through 2018)

Signed:

• Chargers – Vincent Brown, WR (link)
• Washington – Pierre Thomas, RB (link)

Waived:

• Eagles – Miles Austin, WR (link)
• Giants – Damontre Moore, DE (link)

Injuries:

• 49ers – Carlos Hyde, RB (IR)
• Bears – Martellus Bennett, TE (IR) and Marquess Wilson, WR (IR)
• Browns – Joel Bitonio, G (IR)
• Chargers – CB Brandon Flowers, CB and Corey Liuget, DE (IR)
• Falcons – Matt Bryant, K (IR)
• Rams – T.J. McDonald, S and Robert Quinn, DE (IR)
• Ravens – Eugene Monroe, T (IR)
• Saints – Mark Ingram, RB (IR)
• Washington – Stephen Paea, DE (IR)

Suspended:

• Ravens – Nick Boyle, TE (four games)

Retired:

• Jonathan Vilma, LB (link)

The headlines from the past week at PFR:

Key News:

• Having already fired their head coach and defensive coordinator earlier in the year, the Dolphins continued to clean house, firing offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, promoting quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor to take his place.
• The 49ers made a change in their front office, reassigning team president Paraag Marathe; however, he’ll continue to lead the club’s salary cap.
• The NFL made two rules changes this week, shortening the legal tampering period to two days, and allowing the trading of compensatory draft picks beginning in 2017.

Extended:

• Cardinals – Justin Bethel, CB (through 2018)
• Chargers – Tom Telesco, GM (through 2019)

Signed:

• Browns – Terrelle Pryor, QB (link)
• Panthers – Cortland Finnegan, CB (link)

Waived:

• Dolphins – C.J. Mosley, DT (link)

Injuries:

• Browns – Josh McCown, QB (IR)
• Cardinals – Chris Johnson, RB (IR-DTR)
• Colts – Ahmad Bradshaw, RB (IR)
• Falcons – Leonard Hankerson, WR (IR)
• Giants – Geoff Schwartz, G (IR)
• Jaguars – Toby Gerhart, RB (IR)
• Seahawks – Jimmy Graham, TE (IR) and Paul Richardson, WR (IR)

The headlines from the past week at PFR:

Key News:

• Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey was shot in the head in South Florida. We hope for a speedy recovery.
• Star defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson talks about his future with the Jets.
• Lawrence Timmons has a big cap hit coming for the Steelers, but the linebacker is hoping to get an extension done.
• The Lions have hired Ernie Accorsi to assist them in their search for a new general manager.
• Rory Parks updated us on the latest news concerning the split in the Eagles front office between Chip Kelly and Howie Roseman.

Activations:

• The Seahawks have activated cornerback Jeremy Lane, who last saw the field while picking off a Tom Brady pass in the Super Bowl and was injured on the play.
• The Bengals activated rookie offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi from their non-football injury list.
• The Panthers activated pass rusher Charles Johnson from IR-DTR this week.

QBs:

• Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning will miss at least an additional two weeks with a torn plantar fascia. Brock Osweiler, who the team apparently attempted to trade in 2014, will continue to start for the Broncos.
• The Browns just named Johnny Manziel the starter going forward, but the team will return to Josh McCown in light of a video of Manziel partying surfaces. Manziel allegedly lied to the team about the timeline regarding the video. The team has not considered cutting the former first-round pick.

Signed:

• Bills – Marcus Thigpen, WR (link)
• Broncos – Christian Ponder, QB (link)
• Cardinals – Red Bryant, DL (link)
• Eagles – Jaylen Watkins, WR (link)
• Falcons – Shayne Graham, K (link)
• Rams – Zach Hocker, K (link)

Waivers:

• Colts – claimed RB Dan Herron from the Bills (link)
• Dolphins – claimed LB Quinton Coples from the Jets (link)
• 49ers – claimed LB Ray-Ray Armstrong from the Raiders (link)
• Ravens – claimed QB Jimmy Clausen from the Bears (link)

Waived:

• Bears – Jimmy Clausen, QB (link)
• Bills – Dan Herron, RB (link)
• Falcons – Joplo Bartu, LB (link)
• Jets – Quinton Coples, S (link)
• Seahawks – Bryce Brown, RB (link)

Injuries:

• Bengals – Darqueze Dennard, CB (IR)
• Bills – Kyle Williams, DT (IR)
• Cardinals – LaMarr Woodley, LB (IR)
• Cowboys – Tony Romo, QB (out for season)
• Eagles – Nolan Carroll, CB (IR)
• 49ers – Glenn Dorsey, DL (IR)
• Patriots – Aaron Dobson, WR (IR)
• Ravens – Justin Forsett, RB (IR) and Joe Flacco (out for season)
• Saints – Keenan Lewis, CB (IR)
• Washington – Chris Culliver, CB (IR)

Suspended:

• Panthers – Wes Horton, DE (four games) and Frank Alexander (one year)

The headlines from the past week at PFR:

Key News:

• Raiders edge rusher Aldon Smith was suspended for one year due to his DUI arrest earlier this year.
• The Saints fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, promoting Dennis Allen to take his place.
• The Lions took the first step in restructuring their front office, hiring CEO of Ford Estates Rod Wood as president.
• The NFL is expected to allow compensatory draft picks to be traded.

QBs:

• Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has a torn plantar fascia, meaning Brock Osweiler will start for the foreseeable future.
• The Rams have benched Nick Foles, turning instead to backup Case Keenum.
• With an eye towards the future, the Browns will start Johnny Manziel for the remainder of the season.

Signed:

• Cowboys – Robert Turbin, RB (link)
• Giants – Hakeem Nicks, WR (link)

Waivers:

• Texans – claimed QB Brandon Weeden from the Cowboys (link)

Waived:

• Buccaneers – D.J. Swearinger, S (link)
• Cowboys – Christine Michael, RB (link)

Injuries:

• 49ers – Colin Kaepernick, QB (IR)
• Giants – Victor Cruz, WR (IR)
• Jaguars – Sen’Derrick Marks, DT (IR)
• Jets – Zac Stacy, RB (IR)
• Patriots – Julian Edelman, WR (6-8 weeks)
• Ravens – Justin Forsett, RB (fractured arm), Breshad Perriman, WR (link), and Jeremy Zuttah, C (IR)
• Titans – Justin Hunter, WR (IR) and Jason McCourty, CB (IR)

Suspended:

• Buccaneers – Kwon Alexander, LB (facing four-game ban)
• Washington – Junior Galette, LB (two games)

The headlines from the past week at PFR:

Key News:

• Despite rumors to the contrary, former 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis emphasized that he will not attempt to make an NFL comeback.
• Colts quarterback Andrew Luck will miss two-to-six weeks after suffering a lacerated kidney during last week’s game against the Broncos.
• Offensive tackle Will Beatty, who tore a biceps muscle in May and is now undergoing rotator cuff surgery, will not be activated off the PUP list by the Giants.
• In other injury news, Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta won’t play this season as he continues to deal with major hip injuries.

Extended:

• Patriots – Josh Kline, G (through 2017)

Signed:

• 49ers – Travaris Cadet, RB (link)
• Jets – Randy Bullock, K (link)
• Rams – Wes Welker, WR (link)
• Saints – Matt Flynn, QB (link)
• Washington – Brian De La Puente, C (link)

Waivers:

• Colts – claimed QB Charlie Whitehurst from the Titans (link)

Waived:

• Browns – Robert Turbin, RB (link)

Injuries:

• Colts – Henry Anderson, DT (IR)
• Eagles – Jordan Hicks, LB (IR)
• Lions – Rashean Mathis, CB (IR)
• Patriots – Dion Lewis, RB (IR)

Suspended:

• Bears – Tayo Fabuluje, T (link) and Ego Ferguson, DT (four games)
• Broncos – Aqib Talib, CB (one game)
• Rams – Stedman Bailey, WR (four games)
• Joseph Randle, free agent RB (four games)

The headlines from the past week at PFR:

Key News:

• The Broncos made waves in advance of the trade deadline, acquiring tight end Vernon Davis from the 49ers, while attempting (and failing) to acquire left tackle Joe Thomas from the Browns.
• After posting a 3-20 record during his time with Tennessee, Ken Whisenhunt was fired as head coach of the Titans. Mike Mularkey was promoted to interim head coach.
• The Lions continued to clean house, firing both general manager Martin Mayhew and president Tom Lewand. Sheldon White was named interim GM.
• The 3-5 Colts made a change to their offensive staff, firing offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton and promoting Rob Chudzinski to take his place.

Signed:

• 49ers – Pierre Thomas, RB (link)

Claimed Off Waivers:

• Steelers – claimed WR Jacoby Jones from the Chargers (link)

Waived:

• Cowboys – Joseph Randle, RB (link)
• Titans – Terrance West, RB (link)

Injuries:

• 49ers – Reggie Bush, RB (IR) and Mike Davis, RB (IR-DTR)
• Bills – Percy Harvin, WR (IR)
• Chargers – Keenan Allen, WR (IR)
• Giants – Jon Beason, LB (IR) and Owa Odighizuwa, DE (IR-DTR)
• Lions – DeAndre Levy, LB (IR)
• Patriots – Ryan Wendell, OL (IR)
• Ravens – Steve Smith, WR (IR)
• Steelers – Le’Veon Bell, RB (IR)

The headlines from the past week at PFR:

Key News:

• The Giants and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul — injured in a July 4 incident — agreed to new contract, through which JPP can earn a maximum of about $8.7MM. Details of the deal can be found here.
• The Lions made several changes to their offensive coaching staff, most notably firing offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and promoting quarterbacks coach Jim Bob Cooter to take his place.
• Texans running back Arian Foster suffered a torn Achilles, meaning he will miss the remainder of the season.
• The Chiefs plan to retain both head coach Andy Reid and general manager John Dorsey for the 2016 season.
• The NFL’s trade deadline is just two days away, and rumors have surfaced the players like Joe Thomas, Alex Mack, and Joe Staley could be on the move. Check out the latest trade gossip here, here, and here.

Signed:

• Chargers – Joe Mays, LB (link)
• Saints – Jo-Lonn Dunbar, LB (link)
• Seahawks – Bryce Brown, RB (link)
• Texans – T.J. Yates, QB (link)

Released:

• Texans – Ryan Mallett, QB (link)

Injuries:

• Buccaneers – Louis Murphy, WR (IR)
• Dolphins – Cameron Wake, DE (IR)
• Rams – Alec Ogletree, LB (IR-DTR)

Suspended:

• Ravens – Matt Elam, S (one game)

The original content and analysis produced by the PFR staff during the past seven days:

• Luke Adams delved into the cap outlook for the 2016 Dolphins, identifying players like Brent Grimes and Cameron Wake as extension candidates, while noting the Ndamukong Suh‘s contract is “begging for a restructure.”
• Now that we’re nearly at the midpoint of the season, injured players — including those on injured reserve/designated to return, the physically unable to perform list, and the non-football injury list — are eligible to begin practicing and potentially return to game action. Luke provided a roundup of all such players, with big names such as Will Beatty, Dennis Pitta, and Leodis McKelvin among them.
• In our Community Tailgate series, we post topics for discussion and encourage readers to chime in with their thoughts in the comments section. This week, Luke asked: which of the undefeated clubs — the Broncos, Bengals, Patriots, Panthers, and Packers — has the strongest outlook going forward?

The headlines from the past week at PFR:

Key News:

• 49ers tight end Vernon Davis is drawing trade interest around the league.
• Gus Bradley is reportedly safe as the Jaguars‘ head coach through the 2016 season.
• The Jaguars and the NFL extended its relationship with London’s Wembley Stadium through the 2020 season.

Signed:

• Bills – Jordan Mills, T (link)
• Saints – Kai Forbath, K (link)

Released:

• Bears – Jeremiah Ratliff, DT (link)

Injuries:

• 49ers – Antoine Bethea, S (IR)
• Lions – Zach Zenner, RB (IR)
• Steelers – Kelvin Beachum, T (IR)

Suspended:

• Jets – Quincy Enuwa, WR (link)

Retired:

• Jermichael Finley, TE (link)
• Brandon Lloyd, WR (link)

The headlines from the past week at PFR:

Key News:

• Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles was placed on injured reserve after suffering a torn ACL during last week’s game against the Bears.
• The Ravens signed All Pro guard Marshal Yanda to a long-term extension, locking him up through the 2019 season.

Signed:

• Cardinals – Dwight Freeney, LB (link)
• Colts – Ahmad Bradshaw, RB (link)
• Ravens – Shareece Wright, CB (link)

Injuries:

• Bills – Aaron Williams, S (IR-DTR)
• Patriots – Tarell Brown, CB (IR) and Nate Solder, T (IR)
• Raiders – Justin Tuck, DE (IR)
• Rams – Rodger Saffold, G (IR)
• Ravens – Will Davis, CB (IR) and Lorenzo Taliaferro, RB (IR)
• Steelers – Maurkice Pouncey, C (likely to miss season)