NFL - NEWS & NOTES

49ers cut Jeremy Kerley

 

Rest easy, Ravens fans: Your quarterback has returned.

After missing all of camp and the preseason with a disc injury in his back, Joe Flacco finally suited up for practice on Saturday:

Flacco resumed throwing this past week and remains on schedule to take the field when Baltimore opens its season Sept. 10 on the road against the Bengals.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero first reported in July that the 32-year-old starter was preparing to miss three to six weeks with the injury -- and that timeline held true.

The Ravens never wavered in their optimism over Flacco's return, but fans understandably grew concerned watching backup Ryan Mallett nosedive hard during the preseason.

Baltimore was also connected to eternal free agent Colin Kaepernick, but the former Niners passer looms as an unlikely addition with Flacco back at the controls.

Back injuries are tricky -- we need to see Flacco take an on-field shot or two -- but, for now, disaster has been avoided in Charm City.

 

I just realized that the 2018 6th round pick sent to Pittsburgh was the pick the Browns got from Pittsburgh in the Justin Gilbert deal. This trade gets better by the minute.

 

I just realized that the 2018 6th round pick sent to Pittsburgh was the pick the Browns got from Pittsburgh in the Justin Gilbert deal. This trade gets better by the minute.

 

Biggest Eagle surprise was that Shelton Gibson made the roster. I guess with only 5 sure WRs they decided to go 6 and protect him.

 

Jalen Mills is the only returning Eagles CB.

Free Agent
Patrick Robinson

Drafted
Rasul Douglas
Sydney Jones (NFI List)

Traded For
Ronald Darby
Dexter McDougle

Even Corey Graham if he is used on the slot is a new signing.

 

Tom Coughlin: I’m not interested in Colin Kaepernick and I won’t explain why...

 

Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch‘s bruised shoulder will keep him out “roughly” five weeks, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media. The team will not place him on injured reserve.

That means Brock Osweiler will have an extended stay in Denver as Trevor Siemian‘s backup. The Broncos released undrafted rookie Kyle Sloter on Saturday.


Lynch injured his right shoulder in last Saturday’s preseason game against Green Bay. The MRI showed a bruise for the former first-round draft pick.

Lynch’s use of a sling for his throwing arm was an indication his recovery won’t be as swift as the Broncos had hoped.

 

Pending Monday's physical, Broncos will sign their former QB Brock Osweiler on a one-year, $775,000 deal.

 

Report: T.J. Ward gets one-year, $5 million deal from Buccaneers

The Broncos cut safety T.J. Ward because they didn’t want to pay his $4.5 million base salary this season. But immediately after Ward was released, the Buccaneers called him with a better offer.

Josina Anderson of ESPN reports that Ward’s deal with the Buccaneers is for one year and $5 million. So the 30-year-old Ward will come out ahead.


Broncos front office boss John Elway said the team didn’t ask Ward to take a pay cut. That may have been because they knew the market would pay Ward more than the Broncos wanted to.

Ward will have a week to get up to speed in Tampa before their Week One matchup against the Dolphins.

 

Washington Redskins starting safety Su’a Cravens, who only turned 22 years old in July, is reportedly considering retirement just one week before the start of the 2017 NFL season. ESPN reports a meeting with members of Washington’s organization has changed Cravens’ mind. Still, the second-year player is reportedly going to miss some time early in the season.

The 22-year-old Cravens, who was nursing a knee injury, now is expected to miss the start of the season as Washington helps him address his issues.
Cravens is one of the league's youngest players, a second-round pick last year, and is struggling with the transition to the NFL. Washington officials want to help him through it rather than have him walk away from the game as one of the youngest NFL players to date to retire.​

Cravens is listed as Washington’s starting strong safety on the team’s official depth chart. He was expected to be a key contributor to their defense.
The Philadelphia Eagles are set to play Washington at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland in one week from today. It sounds unlikely Cravens will play in that Week 1 game.

 

I wonder what is going on with Cravens... Seems like he's living the dream, but has reservations for some reason. It will probably come out in the long run. I heard this isn't the first time he considered retirement either.

 

Colts take flier on ex-Redskins RB Matt Jones...

 

After Cleveland Browns Kneel, Police And First Responders Tell Them They’re On Their Own

Cleveland, OH – Local police and EMTs have said that they will not participate in the team’s opening game ceremony due to a group of Cleveland Browns players who refuse to stand for the national anthem.

The Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association (CPPA) and the ILA Local 75, which represents dispatchers, EMTs, and paramedics, have both said that they will not be on the field holding an American flag on the first game, scheduled for September 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to Fox News Insider.

Many NFL players have kneeled for the flag during preseason and regular season games, a form of protest which was started in the 2016 preseason by Colin Kaepernick, former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. Kaepernick remains unsigned as the NFL continues its preseason games and prepares for the actual season.



When Kaepernick first kneeled for the anthem, he said that he refused to stand and “…show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” according to SBNation. He has been openly vocal in his criticism of police, and has said that he kneeled because of “racial injustice” and “shootings of minorities by police.”

Some NFL players have continued kneeling for the anthem, and the Cleveland Browns players who refused to stand during the August 21 preseason game were among the largest groups so far.

CPPA President Steve Loomis said that it is “hypocritical” for the team to ask police officers to “help with the flag while players show disrespect on the sidelines.”


If police and first responders do not participate in opening ceremonies at the first regular season game, it has been reported that in their place, military personnel will hold the flag that the Browns will be disrespecting.

 

The good 'ole US Army quickly opened their chequebook to get those recruits.

 

Players have the right to protest so do the police.

 

Washington may not have been as successful at talking safety Su'a Cravens out of retiring as previously reported.

Mike Jones of the Washington Post reports that the team is placing Cravens on the “non-football exempt list,” and that he’ll be gone for a month, at least.


The details still aren’t clear. And there are very few options for that kind of move because the league doesn’t want teams to be able to stash players on this list or that list or some other list. Players who are placed on the non-football injury/illness list from the outset of camp can be kept there for at least six weeks of the regular season. For Cravens, the traditional NFI approach is not an option, since he was on the active roster throughout training camp and the preseason.

 

The Cowboys claimed defensive tackle Brian Price off of waivers from the Packers on Sunday and they also traded for one of his defensive teammates from Green Bay.

According to reports in both Dallas and Green Bay, the Cowboys have traded a conditional 2018 seventh-round pick for outside linebacker Jayrone Elliott. Elliott made the Packers as an undrafted rookie in 2014 and posted four sacks, an interception and a forced fumble in 38 games for Green Bay over the last three seasons.


The Packers claimed Chris Odom off of waivers from the Falcons on Sunday. He had two sacks for the Falcons in four preseason outings.

 

Wow what a shame. Hope they don't have to cancel the game...

 

The Steelers have made their third trade in the last two days.

Safety J.J. Wilcox is headed to Pittsburgh from Tampa Bay. The Steelers gave the Buccaneers their sixth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft and the Buccaneers will also ship their seventh-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft to the Steelers.


Wilcox signed a two-year contract with the Bucs this offseason, but Tampa Bay decided he was expendable after setting its initial 53-man roster yesterday. Wilcox previously played four years with the Cowboys, who drafted him in the third round in 2013.

Yesterday the Steelers traded Sammie Coates to the Browns and Ross Cockrell to the Giants.