NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Kerwynn Williams will sign with Chiefs



The Chiefs came into the offseason with two Hunts in their backfield and they’ll move into their offseason program with two Williamses as well.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Chiefs will sign former Cardinals running back Kerwynn Williams. They signed former Dolphin Damien Williams earlier this offseason and had the other Williams in for a visit recently


Williams spent the last four years with the Cardinals and saw his biggest workload in 2017. He ran 120 times and caught 10 passes after touching the ball 103 times over the previous three seasons combined. Williams ended the year with 426 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Adding another running back gives the Chiefs a pretty good crowd at tailback as they head to the next phase of their offseason. Kareem Hunt fronts a group that includes Akeem Hunt, Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware in addition to the Williamses. (PFT)

 

Worley was never a lock to make the roster to begin with. He was going to battle with a couple others for some nickel duties.

 

Official: Worley released. He was a fringe roster player anyways. Get him out of here before he becomes a problem.

 

James Harrison retires



James Harrison is calling it a career.

Harrison, the linebacker who will turn 40 next month, wrote on Instagram that he has decided to retire, and this time he means it. Harrison previously announced his retirement four years ago but then decided to keep playing.

“I’ve missed way too much for way too long,” Harrison wrote next to a picture of his children. “I’m done. Many thanks to my family, coaches, the fans, and everyone who played a role in my football life.”

Harrison initially signed with the Steelers as an undrafted rookie in 2002, briefly spent time with the Ravens and NFL Europe’s Rhein Fire, and then really made his mark with the Steelers starting in 2004. He was a Pro Bowler for five straight years from 2007 to 2011 and the NFL defensive player of the year in 2008. After one year with the Bengals in 2013, he went back to the Steelers in 2014. They cut him last season and he finished his career with the Patriots.

 

yet Barrett is still on the team ? I hope he can keep his head about him and have a good season for the Eagles.

 

Bennett.

And yes he's still on the team because he's talented.

 

yeah - thank God he is because his talent level gets a pass over his other things he has done in the last 2 yrs on and off the field. Worley, who wasn't as talented, has this 1 incident and cut !

 

Broncos to release running back C.J. Anderson



Running back C.J. Anderson had planned to use trade talk as motivation. He’ll now have even more motivation.

Per a league source, the Broncos will be releasing Anderson.

Undrafted in 2013, Anderson became a key contributor to the Broncos, culminating with his 23-carry performance in Super Bowl 50. He thereafter signed an offer sheet with the Dolphins as a restricted free agent, and the Broncos opted to match the four-year, $18 million package.

Anderson, who missed much of the 2016 season with a knee injury, had his first career 1,000-yard season in 2017. But that wasn’t good enough to get the Broncos to keep him around, at a salary of $4.5 million in 2018.

The Dolphins become an obvious candidate to sign Anderson, who’ll instantly become a free agent when officially released. (PFT)

 

The NFL and NFL Players Association will prohibit 10 helmet models from being worn by players this season based on the results of an annual laboratory study used to assess the performance of helmets being worn by players.

New NFL players and players who didn't wear the prohibited helmets in 2017 won't be allowed to wear them in 2018. Full phaseout is expected after 2018, per Jeff Miller, NFL Senior Vice President of Health and Safety Policy.

About 200 players wore helmets last season that now would be in the prohibited category. The NFL and NFLPA expect many of those players will stop wearing those helmets immediately, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

The manufacturers of the prohibited helmets are either no longer manufacturing NFL helmets or have made improved models (Riddell, Schutt) and have worked toward getting players to wear the newer models. Helmets no longer being currently manufactured (six models) will be banned immediately. The other four models can still be used by players if worn in 2017.

Miller said the league is "encouraged that this is an important step for player health and safety."

Per Dr. Jeff Crandall, chairman of NFL Engineering Committee, the new helmet rankings is based only on lab performance. The helmets undergo 24 tests in a lab to measure acceleration/motions of head. Higher-ranked helmets manage force better.

The goal of the study, as in prior years, was to determine which helmets best reduced head impact severity under laboratory conditions simulating concussion-causing impacts sustained by NFL players during games. The helmet laboratory testing involved 34 helmet models -- a survey of helmets used by NFL teams indicates that at least 98 percent of players are wearing helmet models that have been tested in this study. The study continues to measure rotational velocity and acceleration as part of a combined metric to evaluate helmets. The NFL/NFLPA evaluation is the first of its kind to adopt rotational measures in its analysis. (NFL.com)
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Apparently the Houston Texans wont even be allowed to wear helmets...

 

He’s back, and now he’s back under contract.

Receiver Josh Gordon, a 2012 supplemental draft pick, still hasn’t racked up more than two accrued NFL seasons. Which means he’s an exclusive-rights free agent. Which means he’s not a free agent at all.

And so Gordon, on the day the offseason program launches in Cleveland, has signed his one-year exclusive-rights tender.

The team announced on Monday morning that Gordon and three other exclusive-rights free agents have agreed to terms. Joining Gordon were receiver Matt Hazel, offensive lineman Austin Reiter, and fullback Danny Vitale.

Gordon fulfilled the final year of his rookie contract in 2017, but because he wasn’t eligible for at least six games, he didn’t pick up a third accrued season. If he earns a third accrued season in 2018, Gordon will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2019.

A potential pass-catching option when not suspended, Gordon returned to action in 2017 after missing all of 2015 and 2016 due to his latest suspension under the substance-abuse policy.

 

Dez Bryant wants to play for the Giants

Immediately after Dez Bryant was released by the Cowboys, he said he would play them twice this year, indicating that he’d end up in Washington, Philadelphia or New York.

Of those three teams, Bryant appears most interested in the Giants, according to Mike Fisher of 105.3 The Fan.

“The Giants,” Bryant told Fisher, “got a helluva defense, they’re going to pay [Odell Beckham Jr.], so coming back. Playing with him, Sterling [Shepard] . . . the tight end [Evan Engram], [Eli] Manning? Crazy.”

Bryant said he enjoys New York City, and Fisher concluded after talking to Bryant that the Giants would be Bryant’s No. 1 choice. Bryant even said he’d be willing to take less money to play for his first choice.

But how much less? The Giants are near the bottom of the NFL in cap space, with only $5 million available to spend. And they may end up spending a lot of money to extend Beckham, so they’re unlikely to spend a lot of money on another receiver in Bryant.

So unless Bryant is so enamored with the idea of playing with the Giants that he’d take the league minimum, there’s no guarantee that the Giants are as eager to get a deal done as Bryant seems to be. (PFT)

 

^those 2 together would be hell for defenders. the cap space is the issue. I can't see them making it work.

 

Stranger things have happened. What if each of the top 53 players agreed to chip in $250K ? There's $13M right there!

 

Those 2 and Brandon Marshall together would be hell for Tyke Tolbert.

 

Love to see it. Odell and Dez and Brandon - team would implode by Week 3.

 

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...audition-to-be-monday-night-football-analyst/

Favre flunked his audition for MNF. Wow. Is that how low they are going to find Gruden's replacement ? I guess Manning turning them down really hurt their backup search plans.

 

Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah is locked up for another year.

Ansah, who was Detroit’s franchise player, has signed his tender. That gives him a guaranteed salary of $17.143 million this season. If the Lions don’t work out a long-term deal with him, he’ll either hit unrestricted free agency next year or he’ll be guaranteed a 20 percent pay raise, which would mean a guaranteed salary of $20.572 million next year.

Last year Ansah had an up-and-down season with three different three-sack games, but a total of only three sacks in all the other games.

Ansah will turn 29 next month and it’s unclear whether the Lions plan to work out a long-term deal with him or let him play out the season and make a decision about his future next year. (PFT)

 

Football is starting to get like baseball with the ridiculous salaries for players that should be somewhere in the lower third of the pay scale.

 

This is another reason LVB “could” be worth $15M. The market is spiking on salaries.

 

You have smucks like Landry and azuana of Detroit getting ridiculous money and you want to tell a super star player he isn’t worth as much as these average at best players?