NFL - NEWS & NOTES

I agree, but they (Eagles) did give up 5 draft picks to take Wentz in 2016 and now are taking a $34M cap hit to off him. Its not a giveaway, but they sure didnt get what they originally hoped or shot for.

 

Maybe Frank Reich makes a winner out of him all over again. Time will tell.

 

I have a second-hand connection to Frank Reich. (I knew his wife.)
If he’s anything like her - and I have good reason to believe he is - then Wentz is fortunate to have him as his coach.

Ultimately, Wentz’s future success or failure in the NFL is up to Wentz. But, being in Indy under Reich stacks the odds for success a lot higher than it would have been if he had stayed in Philly.

 

Looking like the colts were the only team intrested so they could come in low.

 

Does Deshaun Watson get done before free agency?

 

Eagles releasing DeSean Jackson



The Eagles are releasing receiver DeSean Jackson, John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

The move was expected considering the team’s salary cap situation and Jackson’s lack of production the past two seasons. Jackson, 34, was scheduled to make $8.2 million in base salary, and his release will save the Eagles $8.725 million if they declare him a post-June 1 cut, per overthecap.com.

Since re-joining the Eagles before the 2019 season, Jackson played only eight games the past two seasons and made only 23 catches for 395 yards and three touchdowns.

He had a core muscle injury in 2019 and, after surgery last offseason, played only five games this season because of various injuries.

Jackson is unlikely to find a robust market waiting for him in free agency.

In 2019, the Bucs traded Jackson and a 2020 seventh-round pick to the Eagles for a 2019 sixth-round pick. The Bucs spent that pick — the 208th overall selection — on Bowling Green receiver Scotty Miller. Miller caught 46 passes for 701 yards and four touchdowns in his first two seasons and was instrumental in the team’s Super Bowl LV run this postseason.

Jackson spent his first six seasons in Philadelphia before the Eagles released him in 2014. He joined Washington, where he spent three season before going to Tampa for two seasons.

UPDATE 3:58 P.M. ET: Jackson confirmed his release on social media. He said he is looking forward to his “next chapter.”

NBC

 

Raheem Mostert was the fastest ball carrier of the 2020 season



San Francisco running back Raheem Mostert missed half the 2020 season with an ankle injury, but when he was healthy, he showed off his home run ability.

Specifically, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Mostert was the single fastest ball carrier in the NFL in 2020 when he reached a top speed of 23.09 mph on a touchdown run against the Jets. Mostert was also the second-fastest ball carrier when he hit 22.73 mph on another play.

This is the third consecutive year that a 49ers running back has been the fastest ball carrier in the league; Matt Breida was the fastest ball carrier in both 2018 and 2019. That says something both about the 49ers prioritizing speed in their personnel evaluation of running backs, and about how well Kyle Shanahan’s offense gets running backs into the open field.

Rounding out the Top 5 fastest ball carriers of 2020 were Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake at 22.11 mph, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor at 22.05 mph and Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill at 21.91 mph.

NBC

 

Colts still near the top of the NFL in salary cap space, after adding Carson Wentz



Carson Wentz will bring with him a $15.4 million base salary, as well as a $10 million roster bonus, when he officially arrives in Indianapolis. For the Colts, that’s affordable.

OverTheCap.com lists the Colts at fourth in the NFL with $43 million in available cap space (assuming a cap of $180.5 million) even after accounting for Wentz’s $25.4 million cap hit.

With the salary cap shrinking this season as a result of reduced revenues because of COVID-19, many NFL teams simply can’t afford to take on expensive veteran players. But since the arrival of General Manager Chris Ballard, the Colts have been one of the more careful teams about not putting themselves in a position where they’re tight against the cap.

Wentz is set to carry by far the Colts’ biggest cap hit this season (DeForest Buckner is next at $16 million and on one else on the team has a cap hit higher than $10 million). It’s a cap hit the Colts can easily afford.

NBC

 

Browns re-sign Robert Jackson



The Browns have re-signed cornerback Robert Jackson, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports.

The team waived him Feb. 11.

Jackson, 27, played 10 games for the Browns last season, mostly on special teams. He made six tackles, no interceptions and a pass breakup. He saw action on only six defensive snaps.

Jackson hurt his hamstring while playing 76 snaps in the wild-card playoff win over the Steelers and went on injured reserve.

He played six games for the Browns in 2019.

The 16 games played over the past two seasons — plus one playoff game — stands as Jackson’s only career action.

He entered the league in 2018 with the Colts and spent time on the Texans’ practice squad that season.

NBC

 

NFL moves toward 17 regular-season games, three preseason games



Last year, the NFL secured the ability to expand the regular season to 17 games. The league is moving closer to officially implementing a 17-game schedule for 2021.

Via Mark Maske of the Washington Post, expansion of the regular season is “not yet certain,” but it’s currently believed that the league will adjust the annual 20-game slate from 16 regular-season games and four preseason games to 17 and three.

Owners previously had been debating whether to move the preseason to three or to two games. Last year, the NFL had no preseason games, due to the pandemic. This year, the pandemic once again could limit or eliminate the slate of exhibition games.

As one source with knowledge of the dynamics recently explained it to PFT, the push to complete new TV deals has more to do with officially expanding the regular season to 17 games and less to do with potentially borrowing against future revenues to increase the 2021 salary cap.

The NFL has staged a total of 20-game preseason/regular season for decades. Before the regular season moved to 16 games in 1978, the NFL played 14 regular-season games and six preseason games. Keeping the preseason at three games keeps the total slate at 20.

Perhaps more importantly, a 17-and-three approach also ensures that teams will host 10 total games per year. The 17-game regular season will result in half of the teams having nine home games and the other half having eight. In turn, the half that has nine regular-season home games will have one preseason home game. The half that has eight regular-season homes games will have two preseason home games.

It’s also impossible to completely rule out what would be a sudden and largely unexpected push for 18 regular-season games and two preseason games. The league could, in theory, make that request to the NFL Players Association as part of the negotiations that will culminate in the setting of the 2021 salary cap. Likewise, the union could suggest a move to 18 in order to capture enhanced revenues, in 2021 and beyond.

NBC

 

Are they going to keep those 2 extra playoff spots this upcoming season? Although I think that's too many, it's fun watching 6 games that mean something on a weekend.

 

Are they going to keep those 2 extra playoff spots this upcoming season?


I hope they do keep them SCS.

 

The extra playoff teams are according to the new collective bargaining agreement, so are the 17 games

 

JuJu Smith-Schuster: 'I don't want to leave' Pittsburgh

JuJu Smith-Schuster is headed toward an offseason that could produce a major change for him -- he just isn't ready to embrace the thought.

The receiver is scheduled to hit free agency in less than a month, and his current team, the Steelers, doesn't appear financially capable of retaining him at or near market value, at least not in their current state. When tracked down by TMZ, Smith-Schuster said he's not yet considering a different team -- not even the two located near his home of Long Beach, California.

"To be home close to family would be cool, but at the end of the day, I want to have my legacy in Pittsburgh and retire there," Smith-Schuster told the site. "I don't want to leave."

Not wanting to leave is a nice sentiment and all, but it might be inevitable. Pittsburgh has to find a way to creatively restructure Ben Roethlisberger's large contract, which carries a $41.25 million cap hit, in order to find its way under the tightened salary cap for 2021. As it stands now, the Steelers are roughly $19 million over the projected minimum salary cap of $180 million, per Over The Cap.

As we can see from the numbers above, that's a significant gap to bridge with Roethlisberger. It feels as if more cuts are possible just to make the numbers work, and that's well before the Steelers entertain attempting to re-sign Smith-Schuster.

For now, though, Smith-Schuster only sees himself in black and gold, telling TMZ, "Until I actually get let go, other than that, I'm Pittsburgh for life."

Being more Pittsburgh than even Wiz Khalifa would mean Smith-Schuster would stick around for the remaining window of Roethlisberger's career. So while it's not all that realistic at this point, Smith-Schuster still let his thoughts on his quarterback be known, pointing out their rapport would be beneficial for both parties.


"I think he has something in the tank," Smith-Schuster said. "One thing about Big Ben is that I have that chemistry with him, so for them to even let him go or to even think about it wouldn't be the best. I would love to play with Ben. I always tell him give me four years, but obviously, he's a lot older, so we'll see how that goes."

Tuesday's news of Roethlisberger's willingness to work with the Steelers on a restructure makes his return much more possible. It could also spell the end of Smith-Schuster in Pittsburgh.

NFL.com

 

He gone

 

The only way JuJu can stay in Pittsburgh is to take a 1 million dollar contract for the upcoming season and get his big contract next year.

 

That’s another way of saying:

He gone

 

Titans cutting Adam Humphries



Two years after signing a four-year, $36 million contract, wide receiver Adam Humphries is on the way out in Tennessee.

The Titans are releasing Humphries, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

The move saves the Titans about $4.5 million in salary cap space and it had been expected, although Titans General Manager Jon Robinson said last week that no decisions had been made.

Humphries played in just seven games last season, with one start, and finished with career-lows in catches (23) and receiving yards (228).

Now Humphries will become a free agent and see if he can find some team that’s interested in his services — surely for a lot less than a four-year, $36 million contract.

NBC

 

Texans cut Duke Johnson



The Houston Texans have one less running back.

Duke Johnson has been released, per a source with knowledge of the move. It comes as no surprise, given that Johnson had a non-guaranteed $4.65 million salary in 2021. He also was due to make another $500,000 through a workout bonus and per-game roster bonuses worth up to $400,000.

Johnson spent four years in Cleveland before a trade sent him to Houston in 2019. He had 235 rushing yards and 249 receiving yards in 11 games last season.

The next question becomes whether the Texans will keep or move on from running back David Johnson. Appearing in 12 games during his first season with the Texans (he arrived as part of the DeAndre Hopkins trade), Johnson had 691 rushing yards, 314 receiving yards, and eight total touchdowns. He’s due to make $7.95 million in base salary this year, $2.1 million of which is fully guaranteed.

NBC

 

Texans release Nick Martin



The Texans aren’t picking up the phone when teams call to ask about a Deshaun Watson trade, but they are cutting ties with a bunch of other players on the team.

Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports that they have released center Nick Martin. Running back Duke Johnson was also cut on Friday and they released a couple of other players earlier in the week.

Martin joined the Texans as a second-round pick in 2016 and took over as a starter the next season. He started every game the last three seasons and 62 over his entire time in Houston.

Cutting Martin clears $6.25 million in cap space for the coming year and leaves the team with $2.5 million in dead money.

NBC