NFL - NEWS & NOTES

49ers cut Dee Ford



The 49ers made it official Wednesday afternoon, announcing the release of defensive end Dee Ford.

General Manager John Lynch intimated earlier in the day that the 49ers would be cutting Ford after working through some financial considerations.


The team sent a second-round choice to the Chiefs in 2019 to acquire Ford, who then signed a five-year, $85.5 million deal with San Francisco. But he appeared in only 18 regular-season games, playing 378 snaps and making 9.5 sacks in three seasons with the 49ers.

Back issues limited Ford to seven games the past two seasons.

The 49ers also announced the additions of cornerback Jason Verrett and tight end Charlie Woerner to the active/physically unable to perform list. Defensive lineman Kalia Davis began camp on the active/non-football injury list.

PFT

 

Davon Godchaux signs a two-year, $20.8 million extension with Patriots



Patriots defensive tackle Davon Godchaux was headed into the final year of his contract scheduled to make $6.5 million in base salary this season. He signed an extension Wednesday.

Drew Rosenhaus and Ryan Matha negotiated a two-year, $20.8 million extension with New England that includes $17.85 million fully guaranteed at signing.


Godchaux left Miami after four seasons to sign a two-year deal with the Patriots in the 2021 offseason.

He played 639 defensive snaps — 59 percent of the team’s defensive snaps — and 69 on special teams last season. Godchaux totaled 65 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and five quarterback hits.

Godchaux, Christian Barmore and Lawrence Guy give the Patriots a formidable group in the interior of the defensive line.

PFT

 

USA Today has made it official. The Falcons are on the clock for the #1 pick in the 2023 draft !

This offseason feels more and more like 2008. The team is in a total rebuild, working their way out of a cap mess, has drafted their likely future QB, and signed a gazillion cheaper free agents to fill in with a boatload of younger players who are being pushed into larger roles. And just like 2008, the media projects them to be the worst team in the NFL.

 

The 'Rodney Dangerfields' of the NFL?

 

That was certainly the case in 2008. But the young line clicked, the OC called plays to help protect the rookie QB, the defense was adequate, and the team that was projected to go 1-15 came very close to taking the division title. (It came down to the Saints losing the final game to the Panthers, making Carolina the #2 seed in the NFC.)


I get it this year. The 2021 roster sucked even though the team won seven games. And now they've lost Matt Ryan. For the national media, that's it. Game over, man, game over.

But there's one more thing that I see that's the same as 2008. The media doesn't recognize that just about the entire freaking team is different this year as opposed to last year. Fun fact: 70 players appeared in at least one regular season game in 2021. Only 32 of them are even on the 90-man roster for training camp this year, including the special teamers, practice squad call-ups, etc.

Some of the articles I've seen knocking the team have left out key additions to the roster and named the wrong players as projected starters. That's 2008 all over again. The Sporting News listed 285-pound backup DE Simon Fraser as the team's starting nose tackle in their preview rag that year. (Seriously, that happened.)

I'm not saying Atlanta has a great roster by any stretch, but rather that no one has any freaking clue at this point how good or bad the team will be as a whole. Just taking last year's results and subtracting Matt Ryan isn't a valid approach because the entire lineup is different.

If you look at everything in detail and still decide they're bad, sure, fair enough. But from what I've seen so far, the preview writers are simply taking the shortcut of saying a team that was bad last year lost the franchise QB, stopping there and mailing it in, casually name-dropping a couple of guys (without actually saying anything about them) just to pad their word counts and make it look like they've covered all the bases.




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Khalil Mack: I’ve accomplished my personal goals, Super Bowl is only thing on my mind



Chargers pass rusher Khalil Mack has been the NFL’s defensive player of the year, he’s been a first-team All-Pro three times, he’s been a Pro Bowler six times, and he was on the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2010s. He has enough personal accolades.

What he hasn’t done is play in a Super Bowl, and when asked on Wednesday about his personal goals, he said the team goal of winning the Super Bowl is all that’s left for him.


“I feel like up to this point in my career, I’ve accomplished things, but ultimately we want to get to a Super Bowl and we want to win it. That’s the only thing on my mind at this point in my career,” Mack said.

In four seasons with the Raiders and four with the Bears, Mack has never won a playoff game in his NFL career. He hasn’t been close to a Super Bowl, and that’s the one thing he wants.

PFT

 

Michael Thomas: A blessing to be back out there



Wednesday was a big day for Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas.

Thomas missed all of last season after having ankle surgery last June and then having another operating in November to address an injury that had been bothering him since early in the 2020 season. He remained out through the team’s offseason program, but finally took his first steps back onto the practice field as the team held their first practice of training camp.


Thomas didn’t do team drills, but did all other work and showed no signs of being limited by the ankle, which was cause for him to be in a reflective mood about how far he’s come since this time last year.

“Man, I’m kind of lost for words,” Thomas said, via Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. “I didn’t want to come up here and get emotional or anything. But it was a blessing to be back out there with the guys. . . . Everybody loves somebody that comes back from adversity. I feel like a lot of people in this world can learn from that. It’s better to have some adversity than not have some adversity, just to show how you respond. I think it shows a lot of character, it shows the type of man you are. And, I mean, I love playing football.”

Thomas said he’s “very confident” that he’ll get back to producing at a high level because he remained productive while playing hurt in 2020. That would be a welcome development in New Orleans this fall.

PFT

 

Buccaneers center Ryan Jensen carted off with knee injury at training camp; severity unknown

The Buccaneers' pursuit of a title has encountered a hurdle before the calendar turns to August.

Center Ryan Jensen suffered a knee injury and was carted off the practice field Thursday during training camp. Coach Todd Bowles told reporters the team was currently uncertain of the severity of Jensen's injury, which prompted the veteran center to slam his helmet on the ground out of frustration in the immediate moments after.

General manager Jason Licht told reporters he "feels terrible" for Jensen, but did not yet have an update, per The Athletic's Greg Auman.

The injury sapped some positive momentum built by the Buccaneers' offense, which was taking its first few reps with new addition Julio Jones earlier in the Thursday session. Second-year lineman and Notre Dame product Robert Hainsey replaced Jensen after he was carted off.

The only remaining starting interior lineman from Tampa Bay's Super Bowl LV-winning squad, Jensen was seen as an essential piece the Buccaneers must retain entering the offseason. His presence became even more important when guard Ali Marpet surprised everyone by retiring in February at just 28 years old and guard Alex Cappa departed for Cincinnati via free agency the following month.

Less than a month after Marpet's retirement, the 2021 Pro Bowler Jensen signed a three-year, $39 million extension to stay with the Buccaneers, ensuring Tampa Bay would have its most important (and perhaps toughest) interior lineman. That is now an uncertainty Tampa Bay never wanted to consider.

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Interior offensive linemen issues in Tampa... not thrilling to Tom Brady, im sure.

 

Cowboys wide receiver Michael Gallup tore his ACL in January, so getting ready in time for the season opener was always going to be difficult. Today Gallup said it’s not just difficult, but impossible.

Asked today if he might be on the field when the Cowboys open the season against the Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football in Week One, Gallup said he won’t be.


“That’s not a reasonable possibility,” Gallup said.

Gallup caught 35 passes for 445 yards and two touchdowns despite missing half of last season with injuries. The Cowboys would love to get Gallup healthy and back on the field soon, but he won’t play a full season.

PFT

 

With training camp just underway, the Seahawks and wide receiver DK Metcalf have agreed on a big new contract.

It’s a three-year, $72 million extension with $58.2 million guaranteed, PFT has confirmed.

 

$24 mil a year. And in three years, he'll probably get a raise.

 

This Kyler Murray saga is WILD. I've never seen something like this before.

 

Been kinda soap-opraesque all off season. I hear the Cardinals dropped his homework clause from the contract. 'Homework clause'... thats a new one to me.

* 'Independent Study' I guess is what it was officially called.

 

Ron Rivera expects Chase Young to miss some regular season time



Commanders defensive end Chase Young is currently on the physically unable to perform list as he continues to recover from last season’s torn ACL and it looks like his stay on that list will be on the longer side.

Head coach Ron Rivera was a guest on 106.7 The Fan on Friday morning and Young’s status was one of the topics of conversation during his appearance. Rivera said he likes how Young has been coming along and that he thinks the rehab process will benefit the 2020 first-round pick because it will allow him to focus on fundamentals that will help him be more successful as a pass rusher.


Rivera also said it will be some time before we see the results of that work on the field in the regular season.

“He’s probably going to miss a little bit of time,” Rivera said.

Washington opens with a home games against the Jaguars and Eagles sandwiched around a trip to Detroit. It will be October when that stretch is over and that may be the first time Young finds his way into the lineup.

PFT

 

Todd Bowles: Ryan Jensen will miss at least a couple months, maybe more



The Buccaneers will head into the 2022 regular season without center Ryan Jensen. They may not have him at all.

Via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, coach Todd Bowles told reporters that Jensen “will miss at least a couple of months” after suffering a knee injury on Thursday. Bowles added that the team will take a closer look at the damage, in order to determine whether he’ll play at all in 2022.


This means that, when the Buccaneers faces the Cowboys in Week One, the Bucs will have a new interior offensive line. Both guards — Ali Marpet and Alex Cappa — are gone.

Jensen was almost gone, via free agency. Quarterback Tom Brady‘s unretirement contributed to Jensen’s decision to stay put.

The Jensen injury becomes very bad news for the soon-to-be 45-year-old Brady. For as well as he steps away from pressure around the edges, he has a harder time dealing with heat up the middle. Whoever replaces Jensen will be expected to prevent a major hole from emerging, which would result in defensive players getting directly in Brady’s face.

PFT

 

Brady will have to be quick in releasing the ball.

 

Chase Claypool injures shoulder Friday



Steelers receiver Chase Claypool injured his shoulder in Friday’s practice.

Coach Mike Tomlin, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN, said the injury was being evaluated but is “probably not serious.” Tomlin added the team doesn’t have a “high level of concern.”


Claypool was holding his arm in pain before walking off with a trainer.

He had 59 receptions for 860 yards and two touchdowns last season after catching 62 passes for 873 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie. With JuJu Smith-Schuster gone, Claypool should get more opportunities this season.

The Steelers practiced without defensive back Levi Wallace (illness) and tight end Pat Freiermuth (hamstring) on Friday.

PFT

 

Which bodes well for defenses to adjust accordingly... as will the Bucco's o-line. Im thinking this is a huge loss, but they are deep in TB.