NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Lyman - do the spreadsheets for the various drafts include the total games played for each player?

An interesting follow-up would be to see how the charts/stats look if the guys who weren't good enough to make a roster at all were removed.

 

No they do not. I suppose somebody could go to NFL Football Reference.com and extract that data for the 17,000 plus players and add it. You want me to email the file to you?

Again, my intent was to try and quantify the mindsets of NFL front offices by looking at what positions were drafted in which round. I suspect the probability of a drafted player never seeing the field is due to lack of talent - not injury.

That phenonium is far more prevalent in the later rounds. For example, of the 1,647 players drafted in round 1, only 1 never played in a game.

 

Tyreek Hill says he’ll get 2,000 yards and a Super Bowl this year



Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill has very high hopes for the 2023 season.

Hill said on his podcast that he believes he’s going to get 2,000 receiving yards, and that the Dolphins will win the Super Bowl.

“I will break 2,000 yards next year,” Hill said. “2,000 yards was on my bucket list to get before I leave this league. You all think Cheetah gonna leave without doing something he promised himself he was going to do as a kid? 2,000 yards and another Super Bowl. We’re getting that. Believe that.”

Those are lofty ambitions (the current NFL record for receiving yards in a season is 1,964 by Calvin Johnson in 2012), but Hill has been talking a lot this offseason about just how confident he is in what they’re building in Miami.

NBC
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I cant get that Aerosmith tune, 'Dream On' out of my head!

 

Right, I get it. I was thinking that if you had already pasted raw data, I might take a stab at playing with the spreadsheet and see what other insights we might nudge out of it. Injury issues vs talent issues as reasons for careers ending would be one. But without the raw data, I'd say that's a no-go.

 

big talk but can you back it up we'll see

 

Chetah doesn’t have Tarzan to help him out.

 

Jon Gruden’s quest for retribution vs. NFL looks ironclad and shows no hint of a settlement

Top takeaway from ESPN’s exposé on league, Daniel Snyder reveals Gruden is 'gunning for all of them'

The report was a lot to unpack. And there was no shortage of juice.

That was the general consensus in NFL circles Wednesday, as power brokers around the league indulged in their favorite nuggets from ESPN’s detailed look at the potential sources of leaked Jon Gruden emails that cost him his job with the Las Vegas Raiders — then reportedly rippled into Daniel Snyder’s sale of the Washington Commanders. Throughout much of the day, league sources shared screenshots or quotes from portions of the story, accompanied by emojis or gleeful retorts about a swampy mess that seems to be getting only deeper by each turn of the calendar.

Whether it was Raiders owner Mark Davis reportedly telling one of his charges “F*** the NFL. And f*** Dan Snyder,” or details about the tangled partnership between the league, Snyder, the Roc Nation entertainment company and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, there was seemingly something for everyone. But one person in particular may have walked away from the exposé with more ammunition than anyone else.

Jon Gruden.

The former Raiders head coach has long been venting to confidants that he believed the leaking of his personal emails — which contained racist, misogynistic and homophobic language — were part of an orchestrated “hit job” by enemies in the league office. His own agent repeated that claim in August of 2022 and Gruden’s legal team has echoed it in pending litigation against the NFL. Now he has an ESPN report that details an alleged intersection of complication for the league, tying together Goodell’s handling of Snyder and the Washington team owner’s desperate bid to survive a multitude of investigations into himself and his franchise. And in between: A business relationship with Roc Nation that might have been in the center of the storm swirling around Gruden, Snyder and Goodell.

As previously stated, it’s a lot to unpack.

But the starkest underlying theme that emerged to those closest to Gruden by late Wednesday night: It was all fuel to a fire that has burned white hot since Gruden was ousted from the Raiders.

“Jon’s going to take this all the way,” said a league source with personal ties to Gruden, Goodell and former Washington executive Bruce Allen — who was the recipient of the leaked Gruden emails. “It’s as personal as it gets.”

“This” refers to Gruden’s pending lawsuit, which is currently paused in Nevada’s legal system as the state’s Supreme Court considers the NFL’s appeal to force the complaint into the league’s private arbitration system. And “all the way” refers to where Gruden has been telling his inner circle he wants the lawsuit to go: Into a courtroom, where NFL power brokers like Goodell and Snyder would have to testify under oath about their handling of his emails.

“This isn’t about money,” the source said. “Jon doesn’t give a s*** about money. He has money. But he thinks Goodell and [NFL general counsel] Jeff Pash f***** him. He’s gunning for all of them.”

Since the emails were leaked to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times in October of 2021, many of Gruden’s closest allies privately set aside the content of what Gruden had written and focused on one overriding question: In the expansive investigation of the Commanders franchise and some 650,000 emails and communications, why were his the only ones singled out and who had the motivation to use them against him?

ESPN’s piece illuminated some of the most logical candidates from the chain of custody. But Gruden’s pound of flesh and any additional collateral damage can be achieved through only the legal system. And on the heels of this week’s revelations, it appears less likely than ever that this will be a fight resolved by a settlement.

YAHOO/NBC/ESPN and Chucky!

 

Well sure the NFL wants to go thru their own arbitration system. Goodell IS the system. The bad news for them is that Gruden has no legal ties to the league. The NFL can't force him into arbitration. This is going to court and if at all true, heads will roll!!!

 

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports the Raiders and unsigned franchise player Josh Jacobs are not expected to agree to a long-term contract by Monday’s deadline.


At least that’s the “feeling” around the league. Jacobs has been telegraphing he will not report for training camp next week without an extension, but the problem for him is that no extension is possible after Monday. The only thing that will be accomplished by holding out is sending a message. The question would then become if Jacobs is willing to sit out regular season games. We strongly suspect Jacobs would report before Week 1 in that scenario.
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It figures I sign the guy as my RB1 in the WDF and he may not even play week 1, who knows.

 

Jaguars signed Evan Engram to a three-year, $42.5 million contract.


Previously franchise tagged, Engram’s new three-year pact now replaces that one-year tender. Injury plagued during his five seasons playing for sub-par Giants teams, Engram broke out for a career-best 73/766/4 line with Trevor Lawrence and company last year. A huge, promising season, though one that could be difficult to repeat with Calvin Ridley now joining the targets fray alongside Christian Kirk and Zay Jones. Currently the TE8 by Underdog ADP, Engram is probably being drafted near his ceiling, but it is difficult to envision him falling out of the top 12.

 

DeAndre Hopkins is signing with the Titans , according to ESPN’s Dianna Russini. Doug Kyed of AtoZ Sports Nashville was the first to report the news. The details of the deal are unknown at this time.

This is the first big splash for new general manager Ran Carthon as he now pairs Hopkins with star running back Derrick Henry on offense.

Hopkins entered free agency after the Cardinals surprisingly released the five-time All-Pro in May amid trade rumors swirling. Instead of getting something in return for Hopkins, they let the quality wideout walk for free. And at 30 years old, he still has plenty of football left in him.

He appeared in nine games in 2022 after serving a six-game suspension to start the season for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drugs policy. In those nine appearances, he tallied 64 catches for 717 yards and three touchdowns but Arizona finished the year 4–13 at the bottom of the NFC West.

 

NFT’s, baby!

 

Perfect. So they can replay all his comments and remind us all what a jackass Gruden is.

 

The deadline to sign the Franchise Tag is today at 4pm et... It doesnt look like Barkley and Jacobs are going for that and the teams brass isnt budging. Still blows my mind how the RB position is being handled by both the teams and the players and their representatives, while other positions, even defensively, are still signing massive contracts. I guess the NFL, at this present time, is more about gun-slinging offenses that spread out defenses instead of the ol' 3 yards and a cloud of dust.

 

NFL training camp 2023: Schedules and locations for all 32 teams

Arizona Cardinals
Site: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
Reporting date: July 25

Atlanta Falcons
Site: IBM Performance Field, Flowery Branch, Georgia
Reporting date: July 18 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

Baltimore Ravens
Site: Under Armour Performance Center, Owings Mills, Maryland
Reporting dates: July 18 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

Buffalo Bills
Site: St. John Fisher University, Rochester, New York
Reporting dates: July 18 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

Carolina Panthers
Site: Wofford College, Spartanburg, South Carolina
Reporting dates: July 22 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

Chicago Bears
Site: PNC Center at Halas Hall, Lake Forest, Illinois
Reporting dates: July 22 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

Cincinnati Bengals
Site: Paycor Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
Reporting dates: July 19 (rookies), July 21 (veterans)

Cleveland Browns
Site: CrossCountry Mortgage Campus, Berea, Ohio
Reporting dates: July 19 (rookies), July 21 (veterans)

Dallas Cowboys
Site: River Ridge Playing Fields, Oxnard, California
Reporting date: July 25

Denver Broncos
Site: Centura Health Training Center, Englewood, Colorado
Reporting dates: July 19 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

Detroit Lions
Site: Detroit Lions Training Facility, Allen Park, Michigan
Reporting dates: July 19 (rookies), July 22 (veterans)

Green Bay Packers
Site: Ray Nitschke Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Reporting dates: July 21 (rookies, QBs, injured players), July 25 (veterans)

Houston Texans
Site: Houston Methodist Training Center, Houston
Reporting date: July 25

Indianapolis Colts
Site: Grand Park Sports Campus, Westfield, Indiana
Reporting date: July 26

Jacksonville Jaguars
Site: Miller Electric Center, Jacksonville, Florida
Reporting dates: July 21 (QBs/rookies), July 25 (veterans)

Kansas City Chiefs
Site: Missouri Western State University, St. Joseph, Missouri
Reporting dates: July 18 (rookies), July 22 (veterans)

Las Vegas Raiders
Site: Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center, Henderson, Nevada
Reporting dates: July 20 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

Los Angeles Chargers
Site: Jack Hammett Sports Complex, Costa Mesa, California
Reporting dates: July 18 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

Los Angeles Rams
Site: University of California, Irvine, California
Reporting date: July 25

Miami Dolphins
Site: Baptist Health Training Complex, Miami Gardens, Florida
Reporting dates: July 18 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

Minnesota Vikings
Site: Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center, Eagan, Minnesota
Reporting dates: July 23 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

New England Patriots
Site: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
Reporting dates: July 21 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

New Orleans Saints
Site: Ochsner Sports Performance Center, Metairie, Louisiana
Reporting dates: July 18 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

New York Giants
Site: Quest Diagnostics Training Facility, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Reporting dates: July 18 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

New York Jets
Site: Atlantic Health Jets Training Center, Florham Park, New Jersey
Reporting date: July 19

Philadelphia Eagles
Site: NovaCare Complex, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Reporting date: July 25

Pittsburgh Steelers
Site: Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, Pennsylvania
Reporting date: July 26

San Francisco 49ers
Site: SAP Performance Facility, Santa Clara, California
Reporting dates: July 18 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

Seattle Seahawks
Site: Virginia Mason Athletic Center, Renton, Washington
Reporting date: July 25

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Site: AdventHealth Training Center, Tampa, Florida
Reporting dates: July 24 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

Tennessee Titans
Site: Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park, Nashville, Tennessee
Reporting dates: July 22 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

Washington Commanders
Site: OrthoVirginia Training Center at Commanders Park, Ashburn, Virginia
Reporting dates: July 21 (rookies), July 25 (veterans)

 

Wrong. The Browns' training camp will be held at the Greenbriar resort in West Virginia.

 

ESPN messed that up by a long ways... I wonder why, WV instead of Ohio?


EDIT; Pro football Hall of Fame Game got in the way.

 

Cowboys RB Tony Pollard expected to play on franchise tag in 2023

Tony Pollard is set to play another contract year in 2023.

NFL Network's Jane Slater reported Monday that the Cowboys running back is expected to play on the franchise tag he signed back in March. Teams have until 4 p.m. ET today to reach long-term deals with franchise-tagged players.

Slater added there wasn't extensive discussion about a long-term deal, per a source.

Pollard will earn a fully guaranteed $10.091 million in 2023 on the tag.

Pollard enters 2023 coming off his best season, setting career highs in rushing yards (1,007) and touchdowns (nine) while adding 371 yards and three more scores through the air to earn his first trip to the Pro Bowl. Signifying his big-play abilities, Pollard had the fewest carries (193) by any 1,000-yard RB in the NFL in 2022.

In the postseason, Pollard had an efficient 77 rushing yards off 15 carries in the Cowboys' wild-card win over Tampa Bay, but a broken leg in the early going of a Divisional Round loss to the 49ers ended his breakout campaign on a sour note.

Pollard's outlook has been positive since suffering the injury, saying most recently that he feels "faster" and that he's "a little bit ahead of schedule" amid his recovery.

The emergence of the former fourth-round pick brought forth a big change in Dallas ahead of the 2023 season as the Cowboys released longtime RB Ezekiel Elliott, whose 10,598 scrimmage yards since 2016 leads the NFL.

The decision to cut a star player and fan favorite such as Elliott was made easier with Pollard lying in the wake. Although Pollard is set to become the Cowboys' featured back for the first time in 2023, a stable pay raise for the 26-year-old will have to wait.

NFL.com

 

After spending the tail end of his 2022 campaign on injured reserve, Cleveland Browns linebacker Sione Takitaki feels he is ready to start the new season healthy and good to go.

Takitaki's fourth year in the NFL ended prematurely when he suffered a torn ACL in Week 13 against the Houston Texans. Seven months later, the 28-year-old is preparing for another campaign and planning to make a resurgence on the field.

"I am excited," Takitaki said on an episode of Best Podcast Available, via the team’s website. "The rehab process has been going well. I like where I am at. Just been rehabbing a ton and just trying to get back to physical form. I like where I am and feel we can make a big comeback. I am ready to help anywhere I can."

Although Takitaki had an unfortunate ending to his season, he still played in a total of 12 games, starting eight. During 2022, Takitaki recorded 36 solo tackles, 71 combined tackles and one quarterback hit. The 80th overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft also logged one sack and one forced fumble.

Despite the season-ending injury, Takitaki re-signed with Cleveland on a one-year deal in March after his rookie contract expired. Now, as he is going into his fifth year with Cleveland, Takitaki hopes to resurrect his skill set to help the Browns' defense succeed under new leadership in defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

The Browns added Schwartz this offseason to bring new ideas and take on a leadership role to help the defense prosper. Schwartz has a long résumé, but one of the most notable achievements from his coaching career came during the 2017 campaign when he helped lead the Eagles' defense to Philadelphia's first-ever Super Bowl win. Now, as Schwartz takes on the job of leading the Browns' defense back to the postseason, Takitaki anticipates that with his new DC, he can even get more action out on the field.


"We have a lot of character guys and talent in the defensive room, and he comes in and sets the tone," Takitaki said. "That's one thing I just feel was his leadership presence. Not to tell so much about the scheme, but as a linebacker, I can get some sacks. I am excited about that."

Training camp is set to begin this week, which will ramp up Takitaki's rehab and help him gain the strength he needs for a smooth transition back.

NFL.com