NFL - NEWS & NOTES

As much as the league tried to pep up the draft with impromptu appearances by Blue Man Group, Piff and others, the highlights of the day three broadcast were still NFL-N's "Stump The Truck" (some controversy this year!) and the Run Rich Run segment for St. Jude's Childrens Hospitals.

What made it worth tuning in (or recording and skimming through later, as I did) was seeing RGIII shock everyone by running a 4.48. Apparently he's now in talks with a few teams about a potential comeback, and after seeing that 40 time, teams are now taking him a lot more seriously.

 

That’s pretty fast for someone collecting Social Security.

 

Kyle Van Noy’s visit with the Chargers went well.

Word that the veteran linebacker was visiting the AFC West club came on Thursday morning and that a deal was expected to fall into place. The Chargers announced Van Noy’s signing without disclosing any terms on Thursday afternoon.

Van Noy is the second veteran defender to join the Chargers in as many days. They added cornerback Bryce Callahan to the secondary on Wednesday.

Van Noy returned to the Patriots last year after spending the 2020 season with the Dolphins. He had 66 tackles, five sacks, an interception he returned for a touchdown, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.

He’s seen time on the edge and as an off-ball linebacker over the years and the team will now figure out the best way to fit him into their front seven.

 

This aint news... its just a note.

 

Report: Sony Michel signing with Dolphins



Running back Sony Michel had free agent visits to the Dolphins and the Saints post-draft. He is signing with the Dolphins, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.

Michel joins a crowded running backs rooms that includes Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert, Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed.

The Patriots made Michel the 31st overall choice in 2018, and he spent three seasons in New England before the team traded him to the Rams.

Michel, 27, played all 17 games with seven starts for the Super Bowl champions. He had 208 carries for 845 yards and four touchdowns while catching 21 passes for 128 yards and a score.

In four playoff games, he had 29 touches for 72 yards.

Michel has 3,137 career rushing yards, 386 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns.

PFT

 

Colts to sign Dennis Kelly



Dennis Kelly is joining the Colts.

The veteran offensive tackle visited the team last month and his former Titans teammate Taylor Lewan broke the news that Kelly will be signing with Tennessee’s AFC South rivals on Tuesday.


Kelly played for the Titans from 2016 to 2020 and then moved on to the Packers last season. He started four regular season games and Green Bay’s playoff loss at right tackle before being released this offseason.

The Colts have Braden Smith at right tackle and Matt Pryor has been at the top of the depth chart at left tackle since Eric Fisher became a free agent. The Colts also drafted Bernhard Raimann out of Central Michigan in the third round.

PFT

 

Free-agent running back Mike Davis signed an undisclosed deal with the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday, according to a source. After the Ravens dealt with multiple key injuries in their backfield before the regular season last year, they are making sure they have adequate depth behind J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards and Justice Hill, as they also took rookie Tyler Badie in the sixth round of the draft. Davis was thoroughly outplayed by Cordarrelle Patterson as the Atlanta Falcons main back in 2021, but Davis did have over 1,000 scrimmage yards and eight touchdowns in 2020 with the Carolina Panthers.

ROTO BALLER

 

The Las Vegas Raiders signed free-agent veteran linebacker Kenny Young to an undisclosed deal on Monday. Young was traded from the Los Angeles Rams to the Denver Broncos at midseason last year. He finished the season with a total of 75 tackles (41 solo), six tackles for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery in 13 starts. The 27-year-old will likely be a rotational linebacker for the Raiders in 2022. Young was originally a fourth-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2018 out of UCLA. He has 195 tackles (127 solo), 16 tackles for loss, 13 QB hits, 5.5 sacks, one interception for a touchdown, four passes defensed, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in 59 career games (25 starts) over four NFL seasons.

ROTO BALLER

 

Jim Irsay makes $2 million bid on Kurt Cobain guitar



Colts owner Jim Irsay has spent millions of dollars on music memorabilia, and he’s prepared to spend millions more in an auction that he says he’s supporting not only for the item up for sale but for the cause it will support.

The item in question is a Fender guitar Kurt Cobain played in the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” music video. And Irsay opened the bidding at $2 million because Cobain’s heirs have pledged that a portion of the proceeds will go to Kicking The Stigma, an Irsay family initiative for mental health.


“This guitar is big, and it relates so much to stigma,” Irsay said, via the Indianapolis Star. “When you have a mental illness, people die. These are fatal diseases — bipolar, schizophrenia, post-partem depression, alcoholic addictions. With fatal diseases, people die and they don’t choose to die. Those of us who are alive, we’re not stronger or better. We didn’t get our act together more. We didn’t have more character. That’s where it’s so false.”

The auction will take place May 20-22 at juliensauctions.com.

PFT

 

I remember when the Eagles drafted Dennis Kelly. Howard Mudd essentially owned that 5th round pick to take whoever he wanted. It might have been part of the deal to take him out of retirement the year before. Kelly was on nobody's board and when he went in the 5th everyone was like "huh?" but man did he work out. He wasn't great but he developed into a solid depth piece before being traded to the Titans where he got his break. Still just a depth guy but a solid depth guy.

 

Josh Lambo sues Jaguars over Urban Meyer’s behavior



Most employers don’t want to be sued, ever. A new lawsuit filed against the Jaguars, however, could prove to be very helpful in a bigger legal battle the team is likely facing.

Via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo has sued the team, seeking payment of his $3.5 million base salary for 2021, along with compensation for emotional distress.


Lambo contends that he was physically and verbally abused by former coach Urban Meyer. Specifically, Lambo claims that the team violated the Florida Private Sector Whistleblower’s Act.

Meyer allegedly kicked Lambo before a preseason game in August, saying to him, “Hey dipshit, making your fucking kicks.” Lambo alleges that he told Meyer to never do that again. Meyer allegedly responded, “I’m the head ball coach, I’ll kick you whenever the fuck I want.”

Lambo says he verbally reported the incident to his agent, who communicated the complaint to the team.

Undoubtedly, Lambo contends in the lawsuit (we haven’t seen it yet) that the Jaguars cut him in retaliation for making the complaint regarding Meyer’s conduct.

Also undoubtedly, the Jaguars will argue that the Collective Bargaining Agreement provides the exclusive avenue for Lambo’s claims. That will be the first battle in this case, and it could compel Lambo to pursue a grievance under the labor deal, in lieu of going to court.

Wherever the case goes, the allegations from Lambo could make it easier for the Jaguars to prove that Meyer was fired for cause, and that he should get no further compensation. The Jaguars undoubtedly will try to get any fight with Meyer resolved in the NFL’s secret, rigged kangaroo court, making it much easier to beat back Meyer’s effort to secure a buyout.

For his part, Meyer has denied any wrongdoing as to Lambo. As to the notion that he was fired due to the kicking allegation, Meyer would likely argue that the team didn’t fire him when they became aware of the claim, and that the decision to keep him shows that the eventual firing was unrelated to the contention that he kicked his kicker.

PFT

 

This will be something to follow even if just for the cap ramifications. Any money rewarded as part of the salary must surely by league rules be applied to the cap.

 

D.J. Reader: AFC North “goes through us right now”



The Bengals won the AFC North title, and the AFC Championship, in 2021. They currently are not favored to win their division in 2022.

PointsBet has the Ravens and Browns at +200 each to capture the AFC North crown. The Browns are just behind, at +210. (And it is very bizarre to see the Steelers bringing up the rear at +800.)


“I don’t know,” Reader said when asked about the Browns being favored to win the division, via NFL.com. “I watched a couple UFC fights this weekend. Vegas gets it wrong sometimes, too. They win most of the time, they’re the house, but they get it wrong a lot of times too.”

It’s ultimately irrelevant to Reader. As his word demonstrate.

“Who cares?” he said. “It seems like it goes through us right now, so until somebody comes and takes it from us, I’m gonna be confident in us.”

He should be. The Bengals have great players, and they’ve addressed their most glaring weakness — the offensive line. Yes, the Bengals should be confident. While it won’t be easy to get back to the Super Bowl. it makes sense to pick them to win the division again.

PFT

 

Veteran edge rusher Jerry Hughes signs with Texans

It took a couple of months, but Jerry Hughes finally found his next NFL home.

The veteran edge rusher signed with the Houston Texans on Wednesday, the team announced.

Hughes joins fellow former Buffalo Bills pass rusher Mario Addison, who also signed in Houston this week.

Hughes has spent the majority of his 12-year NFL career with the Bills, where he became a consistently productive and reliable defender, recording an average of nearly six sacks and 26 tackles (8.2 per loss) per season from 2013-2021. As the Bills fought through the tumult typical of a team morphing from pretender to contender, Hughes missed just one game in that span of time.

His future in Buffalo was uncertain following the heartbreaking conclusion of the 2021 season, and it became clear he'd be headed elsewhere once the Bills stunned the NFL by signing Von Miller. Hughes will change divisions, moving from the AFC East to the AFC South to join a Texans team in the midst of a rebuild under new head coach Lovie Smith and general manager Nick Caserio.

As the Texans attempt to pivot toward a brighter future, they'll be happy to welcome Hughes' veteran presence into their locker room. If history serves as an indicator, they'll also be able to count on his availability, even as he approaches his 34th birthday in August.

NFL.com

 

Carl Lawson: Jets' defensive line 'a breeding ground for absolute monsters'

Carl Lawson is on schedule for a healthy return, which means it's time for Jets fans to restart their excitement engines.

The edge rusher told reporters Wednesday he expects to be ready for training camp following an Achilles injury suffered in August that cost him the entire 2021 season.

Lawson arrived in New York as a much-needed edge-rushing upgrade and was turning plenty of heads in Jets camp, but the injury suffered in joint practices with the Green Bay Packers took the wind right out of his sails. New York responded by trading for another Lawson -- former Bills, Texans and Dolphins edge rusher Shaq Lawson -- to fill his spot, but the addition didn't make the impact New York envisioned for Carl Lawson, as he finished with one sack in 14 games played before the Jets released him in early January.

The Jets struggled throughout much of 2021, but they hope to be turning the page toward a brighter future thanks to a draft that, on paper, was a success. Lawson -- owner of 20 career sacks in four NFL seasons -- believes Jets fans have legitimate reason to be optimistic about 2022.

"I love this group because it's a bunch of guys with different back stories," Lawson explained Wednesday. "It's going to be a competitive group, so it's going to be a breeding ground for absolute monsters.

"We've got guys wanting to come back and prove themselves like myself. We've got undrafted guys. We've got (players) who went to JUCO. We've got guys coming off -- like Vinny Curry coming off a damn near life-threatening injury. You've got so many different people who've been through different adversities, and then you've got that competitive nature. It's an absolute breeding ground for monsters, so I love this group."

Lawson welcomed a former Bengals teammate to New York this offseason when the Jets signed tight end C.J. Uzomah, and the new addition shares his once-again teammate's excitement. Uzomah's reasoning is simple: He knows what Lawson brings to the field.


"Carl's a monster. He's built like an action figure," Uzomah said. "Like if you go on Madden and you try to build a player, that is Carl. Playing with him for six years, seven years … he's just a freak. His get-off is unbelievable. His strength, in my opinion, that's his biggest strength. He's a monster.

"To get him back out on the field, our defensive line is going to be really freaking good."

Uzomah will get plenty of chances to learn whether his prediction is correct every time he lines up to face the likes of Lawson, John Franklin-Myers and 2022 first-round selection Jermaine Johnson II. The offseason is optimism season, and the Jets certainly have an abundance of it.

NFL.com

 

Raiders, Keelan Cole agree to one-year deal



Receiver Keelan Cole has agreed to a one-year deal with the Raiders, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Cole, 29, caught 28 passes for 449 yards and a touchdown in 15 games, including 11 starts, for the Jets last year after signing a one-year, $5.5 million deal. The only two games he has missed in his career came in 2021.

He spent his first four seasons with the Jaguars after playing his college ball at Division II Kentucky Wesleyan.

Cole led the Jaguars with 748 yards as a rookie.

In five seasons, he has 187 receptions for 2,691 yards and 13 touchdowns.

He joins a remade receivers room that includes Davante Adams, Demarcus Robinson and Mack Hollins as well as returning wideouts Bryan Edwards and Hunter Renfrow. The Raiders did not draft a wide receiver this year.

 

Bengals....didn't take em' long to get overly confident.

 

At least they weren’t hanging their hat on one post season victory.