NFL - NEWS & NOTES

After the Saints drafted interior offensive lineman Cesar Ruiz in the first round of the draft, Saints head coach Sean Payton said that he didn’t know if Ruiz or last year’s center Erik McCoy would wind up moving to guard but strongly suggested that one of them would be there because “we weren’t drafting someone that high to come in and be a backup.”

With left guard Andrus Peat freshly signed to a five-year deal, right guard would be the spot Ruiz or McCoy moved to and Payton said they’d compete with veteran Larry Warford. The Saints have had a change of heart about holding such a competition, however.

The Saints announced on Friday that they have released Warford. The move will clear $7.75 million in cap space while leaving $5.125 million in dead money.

Warford started 44 games for the Saints since joining the team as a free agent in 2017. He made the Pro Bowl in all three seasons with the team and should draw interest from teams looking for help on their offensive line.

NBC
_______
___________________

Texans and Bears are rumored to be interested...

 

That move would make WAY too much sense for the Bears to pull the trigger. Besides, Pace already upgraded the interior OL during FA when he signed one of the most penalized lineman in the league. We're good.

 

The recent memo from the league office to all teams created some confusion as to whether the NFL still adheres to the principle that no team facility will open until all can. There is no confusion regarding Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s views on the matter: He believes that all facilities should open at the same time.

“I prescribe to the approach of competitive fairness within our game, and that is everybody gets an opportunity,” Tomlin told reporters on Saturday, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com. “Our game is extremely competitive. It’s one of the things that make football at this level so attractive to our fans. I’m committed to preserving and protecting that, and so all teams getting an opportunity to start on the same footing is a core element of that.”

The memo from the league office to all teams, a copy of which PFT obtained, requires teams to develop by May 15 plans for a “Phase 1” reopening. Those plans including securing approval from state and local authorities to reopen. The league separately informed PFT that the all-or-none concept has not been abandoned.

“There’s a couple of things that we’re committed to adhering to, and that’s the global approach of the National Football League in regards to football ops and how important competitive fairness is in our game,” Tomlin said. “We all got to get started on the same footing in that regard. Then, also, respecting our local government and the guidelines they prescribe individually in terms of workplace safety.”

The nation currently is moving toward a relaxation of regulations that have kept people inside for weeks. As long as the NFL continues to take the position that no facilities will reopen until all can, however, the league will be at the mercy of only one governor, mayor, and/or county executive. By putting the kibosh on opening only one facility, all facilities will remain shut down.

NBC

 

Interesting who decides when its ok to reopen what a mess this is

 

Mike Florio
13 hours ago

The Saints have dropped guard Larry Warford onto the open market. The Bears have dropped their pursuit of him.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Bears are not pursuing the three-time Pro Bowler.
It’s unclear whether the Bears were ever officially in on the chase for Warford. They reportedly were considering it. Regardless, they currently are not.

The Texans also have been linked to the 28-year-old Warford, a third-round pick of the Lions in 2013. Warford signed with the Saints in 2017. He started 44 of 48 regular-season games in New Orleans, with five playoff starts

----------------------

To Ev's point, the Bears were never after Warford. A reporter thought, "It'd make perfect sense for them to be after him. I'll include their name in the story, and start the hype train".

Poor guy didn't stop to think about how giant a moron Pace is.

 

Think about that last sentence in the article @Willie posted . . .

That means the possibility of the NFL proceeding with the 2020 season, could be determined by a County Health Director. Typically, this is an appointed position filled by the respective County Commissioners where an NFL team maintains training facilities.

 

Its very much still up in the air and nothing is sticking to the wall. 1 facility and or 1 simple guy, could halt the whole damn thing.

 

There was some good discussion regarding this and his inclusion in HoF discussions since @Willie posted the original article and it got me to wondering how Gore compares to his predecessors/peers. So, I put together the following;



A few of these numbers quite frankly surprised me. Form your own conclusions.

 

Appreciate your work, Lym. My opinion of Gore being HOF stands. Its a no brainer.

 

And i have no brain left, but Frank is deserving without asterisks, or any such shit... he is a legend that gets no press, credit or aculades... flew right under the radar and has had a storied career.

 

Two things that jump out at me.

First, I don’t care how long you played, if you’re in that top 10 you get my vote.

Second, Fred Taylor should be next in man. 4.6 average, better than some VERY NOTABLE names on that list, not to mention largest total of any eligible player. I loved watching him play. Probably a top 3 guy for me from a group that used to beat up on my Colts.

 

I'd say McCoy but Fred never got the recognition he deserved because he was in Jacksonville and had to fight off competition on top of that. I'd probably have all those guys in. The least deserving? Probably Warrick Dunn but he should probably be there too.

EDIT: I assume we are all just ignoring Peterson as the obvious #1.

 

Absolutely just ignoring AP for now. It’s so obvious, plus based on my comment of being eligible he technically isn’t because he hasn’t retired

 

On merit, I agree. Due to his child abuse, I'm not convinced he goes first ballot.

 

Maybe they'll switch their ideology.

 

Maybe they'll switch their ideology.


NOPE........not when it comes to Child Abuse Joe.........sorry.

 

Take a closer look VV... This was a play on words since AP used a switch in the abuse.

 

Washington has no prime time games for first time since 1982



In the latest reminder that Washington’s days as a premier NFL franchise are long behind it, the NFL schedule has excluded the team from prime time.

Washington plays on Thanksgiving afternoon at Dallas and otherwise plays exclusively on Sunday afternoons. According to the Washington Times, 2020 is the first season since 1982 without Washington playing a single game in prime time.

The 1982 season, when Washington would go on to win the Super Bowl, was a very different time in the NFL: Sunday Night Football and Thursday Night Football had not yet come along, so prime time games were limited to Mondays. And seven weeks of the season were canceled because of a players’ strike.

Washington still has a chance to get flexed into prime time on a Sunday night, so it’s possible that the prime time streak won’t come to an end. But that will require a surprise improvement that has the team in playoff contention late in the season, something they haven’t seen much of in Washington in recent years.

NBC

 

Raiders waive linebacker Derrick Moncrief



The Raiders took a chance on a CFL all-star for some offseason linebacker depth, but then added more help through conventional means.

According to Tashan Reed of TheAthletic.com, the Raiders waived linebacker Derrick Moncrief.

Moncrief had played three seasons in the CFL, and was an all-star last season for Saskatchewan. He played collegiately at Mississippi Gulf Coast, Auburn, and Oklahoma State.

The Raiders picked up Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski in free agency, and used a third-round pick on Tanner Muse to help fill a position which needed help.

NBC