NFL - NEWS & NOTES

If we are going to get them hooked on football then we better expand there and give them their own team.

 

and halo - the Olympics were scattered over the city in different venues, not just 1 venue.

 

Titans agree to terms with veteran DB Kendrick Lewis

Tennessee tweaked its defensive backfield Wednesday morning.

The Titans agreed to terms with veteran free safety Kendrick Lewis and waived Denzel Johnson, the team announced. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 6-foot, 205-pound Lewis entered the league in 2010 out of Ole Miss as a fifth-round pick (136th overall) with the Chiefs, where he spent four seasons (2010-13). He also played for the Texans (2014) and spent two seasons with the Ravens (2015-16).

Lewis, who turns 30 in June, has appeared in 90 career games with 81 starts, totaling 323 tackles (236 solo), nine interceptions with two returned for a touchdown, 34 passes defensed and two fumble recoveries.

Tuesday's signing reunites Lewis with Titans head coach Mike Vrabel. Both were teammates with the Chiefs in 2010, and then the two reunited in Houston when Vrabel served as the linebackers coach during Lewis' one season with the Texans.

The 6-foot, 198-pound Johnson joined the Titans in 2017 as an undrafted free agent out of TCU. He spent time on the Titans' practice squad the past season before signing a reserve/future deal in January. (NFL.com)

 

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL players' union says former San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid filed a grievance against the league, alleging that he remains unsigned as a result of collusion by owners.

Reid had joined former teammate Colin Kaepernick two seasons ago in kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality.

Kaepernick wasn't signed for the 2017 season following his release in San Francisco. Reid continued the quarterback's protests. The 26-year-old safety became a free agent this offseason when his rookie contract with the 49ers expired.

"Our union is aware that Eric Reid and his legal representatives filed a collusion claim, which will be heard through the arbitration process as spelled out in our collective bargaining agreement," the NFL Players Association said in a statement Wednesday. "Our union supports Eric and we are considering other legal options to pursue."

Kaepernick previously filed a collusion grievance. (AP)

 

Give, my azz. They have to EARN it.

 

Main events were at Wembley. And a shit tonne more people showed up for 2012 than any Super Bowl draw.

 

To the rest of the world the SB is an event you can drop it in London, Berlin, Tokyo or Bejing and the stadium is going to get filled up.

 

JT Barrett just got signed by the Saints...

 

And the events transpired over, what, 2 weeks? Not a single day or long weekend event. Not sure you're comparing apples to apples here.

 

I was told that London couldn’t handle a Super Bowl. I disagreed. Why is that so hard to get?

If MetLife Stadium can hold a SB and everything that it brings, so can Wembley. That was my point. International logistics is the ONLY difference. You can simply call Dietl or Rock n Roll to handle that aspect. That’s what they do.

 

I think London could easily handle a SB. How hard can it be to host one game when everyone wants to go?

 

Adjustments will make kickoffs “much more of a punt play”



Owners will vote on several significant changes to the kickoff at their May meetings as the league seeks to make the play safer.

Competition committee chairman Rich McKay said the changes, which came largely at the recommendation of special teams coaches who participated in the league’s two-day safety summit, would make kickoffs “much more of a punt play,” Kevin Seifert of ESPN reports.

The NFL seeks to reduce the space and speed of the collisions on kickoffs, which produced 71 concussions between 2015-17, according to McKay.

According to Seifert, the changes include: Coverage teams would lose the 5-yard head start they previously had; five players required to align on each side of the kicker; elimination of all wedge blocks, including two-man double teams; eight of the 11 return team members would line up within 15 yards of the restraining line, with blocking prohibited within those 15 yards; and elimination of pre-kick motion.

Onside kick rules would remain mostly the same.

“I would be surprised if we don’t make some progress on this play,” McKay said. “The changes that you are going to look at will have a positive impact.”

So kickoffs received a reprieve for 2018, but it is clear the changes will have to make the play safer for kickoffs to remain a part of the game long term. (PFT)

 

Philadelphia Eagles sign Markus Wheaton to a 1-yr deal.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...n-uneasy-night-out/ar-AAwEnTH?ocid=spartandhp

seems like the Redskins were a bit naughty asking cheerleaders to pose topless...

 

Wembley yes. What about parking ? Ticket availability? Housing and hotels around Wembly? Uber, shuttles, subway and buses to the stadium? Security ? Can it handle all of this too for 1 afternoon?

And London for the East Coast is 5+ hrs away. For West Coast, it's 8 - what time would the Super Bowl be on TV ??

 

Jason Witten leaving Cowboys, joining ESPN


Jason Witten is exiting the playing field and entering the broadcast booth.

ESPN reports that Witten has agreed to become an analyst on Monday Night Football. ESPN previously reported that Witten was likely to make the move but hadn’t officially decided. Now it appears to be official.

Witten, who will turn 36 on Sunday, is still a good enough player that the Cowboys were hoping to keep him. But his production declined last year, and his 63 catches for 560 yards were his lowest totals since he became the Cowboys’ starting tight end in 2004.

It’s the second straight season that a Cowboys player has retired and gone into the broadcast booth. Last year, Witten’s friend and longtime teammate Tony Romo retired after the Cowboys released him and took a job with CBS, where he got rave reviews as an analyst. ESPN can only hope Witten is as successful — and the Cowboys can only hope to identify a young tight end who replaces Witten as well as Dak Prescott has replaced Romo. (PFT)
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Sounds familiar...

 

Browns waive Dominique Alexander, Darius Jackson

The Browns cleared a couple of spots on their roster for incoming rookies on Thursday.

The team announced that they have waived linebacker Dominique Alexander and running back Darius Jackson. That leaves them with 75 players before bringing in members of their rookie class.

Alexander was one of their undrafted signings in 2016 and he made the club as a defensive reserve and special teams regular. He played 14 games as a rookie and four more last season before landing on injured reserve in October. Alexander was waived with a failed physical designation.

Jackson was a Cowboys sixth-round pick in 2016 and spent most of the year on the active roster without playing in any games. He was cut to make room for Darren McFadden and claimed off waivers by the Browns. He didn’t get into any games for them either and then spent last season on injured reserve.

 

This might be the most valid deterrent yet...If they play the game at 9:00PM London time, the players will need to get there immediately following the Conference Championship game, just to get rid of the jet lag...THEN the game will be shown at 1:00PM in California...That's awful early for full Super Bowl agenda to be had, considering what the Networks do on that day leading up to the game.

 

Steelers convert $8.26 of Shazier's base salary for 2018 in to a signing bonus. Gets them off the hook for the cap and gives RS his money.
Well played Steelers, respect.

 

for an east coast team its an 8 hr flight to London, not much longer than a flight to Cali.
* actually, about 6.5 hrs from Boston