NFL - NEWS & NOTES

DeMarcus Lawrence wants to beat Von Miller to season sacks record...



DeMarcus Lawrence continues rehab on his shoulder, but even while doing that, the Cowboys defensive end is thinking about getting a leg up on Von Miller.

The Broncos linebacker has talked openly about breaking Michael Strahan’s single-season sacks record. Strahan had 22.5 in 2001.


Lawrence wants it, too, and he wants to get it before Miller does.

“My goal is to be the best that’s ever played this game,” Lawrence said Saturday at SportsCon 2019 in Dallas. “For sure, I want to beat that sack record, make it my own, so he can talk about beating my record. I’m going to just wait until I get to the season and then worry about sacks.”

Lawrence, 27, had 14.5 sacks in 2017 and 10.5 last season and got paid for it. He signed a five-year, $105 million deal this offseason.

The two-time Pro Bowler delayed shoulder surgery until getting his money, so Lawrence didn’t go under the knife until April.

Private defensive line coach Brandon Jordan recently posted video of Lawrence using his shoulder while working out in the sand.

“The mobility and my strength is coming back naturally,” Lawrence said. “I’m working every day. I’m able to do things. I’m just still limited. Just taking my time. I’ve got time still.”

Lawrence is expected to start training camp on the physically unable to perform list, although he said Saturday he has no idea what the plan is.

“My main thing is to be ready by Week One,” Lawrence said.

(PFT)

 

Commissioner confirms NFL wants new CBA by start of regular season...



It’s been reported, somewhere, that the NFL wants to have a new Collective Bargaining Agreement in place before the start of the 2019 regular season, the NFL’s 100th. Recently, Commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed it.

“That’s certainly our intent,” Goodell said on that point during an interview with Julia Boorstin of CNBC. “Our intent is to make sure we have a Collective Bargaining Agreement, we’ve been in it for eight years. It’s worked very well, mainly for our fans but also for our players and our clubs, and so we have the structure of a system that works quite well. We’re continuing that dialogue, there are obviously changes we all want on both sides, and I think those are things that’ll improve us and try to make the Collective Bargaining [Agreement] continue to be successful for all the parties, and I hope we’ll do that.”

The fact that the league admittedly wants to get a new deal in place before the start of the season gives the NFL Players Association some leverage, as previously explained. The challenge for the NFLPA will be to play their hand without overplaying it and, in turn, blowing the chance to get more favorable terms if they can get a deal done before the season starts.

It nevertheless remains difficult to get an agreement fully negotiated and finalized by the time the Packers and Bears launch the season on September 5. Rosters remain at 90 until August 30, expanding dramatically the pool of employees who would have to vote on the CBA. Then comes a compressed window of days to sell the agreement to the newly-formed rosters before kickoff.

It’s possible for a tentative deal to be reached by September, with the formal team-by-team votes done as quickly as the circumstances warrant. Still, plenty of work needs to be done. Even if it seems that the league is happy to retain the overall structure of the deal, both sides are going to want potentially significant changes, whether it’s stadium credits (from the league’s perspective) or an adjustment to gross revenue split (from the union’s perspective).

Regardless, it’s now clear that the league wants to get something done sooner than later.

(PFT)

 

From the News you cant use file;

Robbie Gould, 49ers agree on long-term deal...

The deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign multi-year deals is on Monday afternoon and it seems that was enough to spur a deal for one player in that position.

According to multiple reports that PFT has confirmed, the 49ers and kicker Robbie Gould have come to agreement on a long-term deal. There are no details about the length of the deal or financial terms at this point.

Gould was tagged in March and requested a trade during the offseason with talks about a new deal progressing slowly. Gould expressed a desire to play closer to his family’s home in Chicago if a multi-year deal wasn’t going to come to fruition with the Niners and said recently that he wouldn’t commit to playing in 2019 under the terms of the tag.

That’s no longer an issue and Gould is set to be in a 49ers uniform for years to come.

Texans linebacker Jadeveon Clowney and Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett are the other two players who were tagged in March and have yet to sign long-term deals this offseason.

 

Odell Beckham is a 'phenomenal' fit...

https://live4sportnetwork.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=7427&action=edit

 

$10.5M Gauranteed, wow.

 

The Bengals knew they needed to rebuild their offensive line, so using their first-round pick on a left tackle was a clear sign of the emphasis.

Then, they lost him for the season.

When rookie Jonah Williams was lost for the season to a shoulder injury, the Bengals are moving incumbent Cordy Glenn back outside after planning to make him the left guard.

But new coach Zac Taylor said he was still upbeat (like he has a choice) about the state of their line entering his first season.

“Cordy (Glenn) can move back to left tackle which is where he’s played his whole career. We have a lot of confidence in him there,” Taylor said, via Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “It’s unfortunate to lose guys in their rookie year. He had high expectations for himself. But we’ll be good.”

The Bengals now have to declare a competition for the left guard job. They signed veteran John Jerry this offseason, and will spend training camp looking at options.

“We have a lot of guys in there that can compete for those jobs,” Taylor said. “The left guard spot will be a competition in training camp and we’ll be excited to see what happens there. We have a lot of good guys in the mix who we are counting on to step up and do their job.

“[Christian] Westerman is in there, we just signed John Jerry [and] Trey Hopkins is in there as well. A lot of guys who can get in there and compete.”

It’s far from ideal, but they’re fortunate to have a fallback position as good as Glenn, even though he wasn’t at his best last season.

 

They say that deadlines lead to deals and that was the case for Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Jarrett and the team have agreed on a four-year extension worth $68 million. Jarrett was given the franchise tag earlier this offseason and he signed it, which set him up to make $15.2 million if he had not agreed to a multi-year deal by Monday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline.

There was word of hope about striking such a deal on Monday morning and the two sides were able to get it done with a little more than an hour to go before the end of the window to come to an agreement. Full details of Jarrett’s financial package have not come to light at the moment, but a $17 million average salary per year would rank just behind Aaron Donald and Fletcher Cox among defensive tackles by that metric.

With Jarrett’s deal out of the way, the Falcons will likely turn their attention back to finding a way to strike a deal with wide receiver Julio Jones.

49ers kicker Robbie Gould agreed to a long-term deal earlier on Monday, so Jarrett’s agreement leaves Texans linebacker Jadeveon Clowney as the lone tag recipient without a new agreement. None is expected to come before the deadline and Clowney hasn’t signed the tag, which may set the table for an extended absence from training camp.

 

The deadline for players with franchise tags to sign multi-year deals is on Monday, but those players aren’t the only ones trying to land new contracts before the start of the 2019 season.

There are a slew of other players around the league who want new deals before their current ones are up and that group includes Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones.

Jones skipped the voluntary portion of the team’s offseason program and also stayed away during their mandatory minicamp in June. There was word in March that the two sides were talking, but Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said in May that he didn’t know if that was the case and there’s been no word that would suggest a deal is imminent.

A report from Terez Paylor of Yahoo Sports does nothing to shift that view. Paylor reports that there has been “no change” in Jones’s situation in recent weeks. Paylor also notes that Jones has to report to camp by August 6 in order to accrue the fourth season he needs to hit free agency (or receive a franchise tag) after the 2019 season is over.

Jones was a 2016 second-round pick and he’s recorded 24 sacks over his first three seasons, including a 15.5-sack campaign in 2018. He’s set to make a salary of just under $1.2 million this season.

(PFT)

 

I'm really interested in how the Chiefs will look..cause last year at times they looked really good

 

season can't start soon enough !

 

It depends on what happens with Tyreek Hill,

 

Really think they take a step back, they lost a lot. More if Hill is gone for an extended time. They lost 3 of their top offensive targets, and 2 good pass rushers...Mahomes has more tape in him, but I think he is dynamic enough to keep them in any game...they will be interesting, their division also improved so they will have a tough year. If they make the playoffs they will have definitely earned it

 

I was just watching some highlights of Mahomes and man does he have very good accuracy. I don’t think changing WRs will hurt him unless they can’t catch.

 

I think they take a step back at first then come on real strong to much talent IMO,it seems like the AFC West is much improved

 

Darius Leonard has big goals for 2019...



Darius Leonard made 163 tackles and seven sacks, earning All-Pro and Defensive Rookie of the Year honors a year ago. This year, the Colts linebacker wants even more.

“I want 200 tackles. I want 10 sacks. I want to be NFL Defensive Player of the Year,” Leonard said on NFL Network on Tuesday. “I want to be All-Pro, Super Bowl champion, Super Bowl MVP. Just everything with my name at the top of the charts.”

J.J. Watt and Luke Kuechly won Defensive Player of the Year as NFL sophomores. No one is counting out Leonard after his first season.

The Colts initially received criticism for drafting the South Carolina State product with the 36th overall choice. He made them look good.

“Last year, I was called the worst draft pick by Bleacher Report,” Leonard said. “I screenshotted it and every day I looked at it, and it kind of gave me the drive to prove that I wasn’t the worst draft pick and I could play at the next level.

“I still have that chip on my shoulder. I wasn’t MVP. I wasn’t at the top of the charts. I wasn’t a Pro Bowler. I wasn’t a Super Bowl champion. So that’s still goals that I want to achieve, and until I achieve them goals, I’m going to still have that chip on my shoulder to outplay everybody and be the top competitor that I can be.”

(PFT)

 

Leonard didn’t make the pro bowl? What a joke it is. He could have won defensive player of the year and was first team All-Pro. He wasn’t even a sub?

 

Falcons linebacker Deion Jones got his deal done just before training camp.

Jones and the Falcons finalized a four-year, $57 million contract extension with an $11 million signing bonus and $25.8 million fully guaranteed at signing, agent Drew Rosenhaus told PFT. Jones has a $7 million option bonus next year, and his $8.2 million salary in 2021 will be guaranteed for injury.

The Falcons have already extended defensive tackle Grady Jarrett this week and turned their attention to Jones next. A 2016 second-round draft pick, Jones was heading into the final year of his rookie contract, and getting a deal done before he could leave in free agency was a top priority for the Falcons.

The next deal the Falcons are likely to work on is for wide receiver Julio Jones, who has indicated he is expecting a new deal soon. Although they’re coming off a disappointing 2018 season, the Falcons still think they have the pieces in place to be a Super Bowl team, and they’re trying to keep those pieces in place.

(PFT)

 

Chiefs fan fined $500 for shining laser at Tom Brady



The Chiefs fan who shined a laser in the face of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady during the AFC Championship Game has been fined.

Dwyan Morgan was given a $500 fine from a judge after pleading guilty to disturbing the peace, TMZ.com reports.

A green light flashed across Brady’s face during the Patriots-Chiefs game in January. Laser pointers can cause eye injuries and could easily distract a player during a game, but Brady did not appear to notice it.

The Chiefs used the video and witness accounts to identify the 64-year-old Morgan as the fan who had the laser pointer, and the team banned him from Arrowhead Stadium for life.

That was not the first time such an incident has occurred at an NFL game. During a 2014 Bills-Lions game in Detroit, Buffalo players complained that a Lions fan had been shining a laser pointer at them. The fan was found and eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, paid a $235 fine and was sentenced to 80 hours of community service. That fan was a guest of a season ticket holder, and the Lions revoked his season tickets.

(PFT)

 

Myles Garrett excited to have more freedom in Browns defense



“Freedom!”

It may not only be a rallying cry of William Wallace in “Braveheart” but a concept that could help Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett take an even greater leap in his third season in the NFL.

According to Jake Burns in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Garrett is excited to have more freedom in the Browns defense this year now that former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is no longer in charge.

“I hopefully have more freedom to be the player I want to be,” Garrett said. “Gregg was more like: ‘You win with these two moves. I don’t want to see anything else out of you.’ It’s kind of hard with two moves. I feel like you can’t always be so predictable.

“You can be as strong or fast as you want, but speed chop and power move aren’t always going to work. You have to mix up what you’re doing. Sometimes you have to stutter step, sometimes you have to spin inside, you have to run some games. You have to have some freedom to throw different looks at them, and we didn’t always have that.”

Limiting Garrett to only two moves may not be as flawed a concept as it seems on the surface. By only allowing Garrett to use a couple moves, it could help encourage a developing young player to perfect the moves before throwing other concepts in down the line. But Garrett seemed to be more than ready for the so-called training wheels to be taken off last season. The former No. 1 overall pick posted 13.5 sacks and was named to the Pro Bowl and was a second-team All-Pro selection.

Garrett is on the verge of becoming one of the league’s top edge rushers. With Steve Wilks now in place as defensive coordinator and, presumably, more freedom to mix and match rush moves more frequently, Garrett may be in for a stellar campaign this fall in Cleveland.

(PFT)

 

That's an annoying bright avatar you have Willie.....