NFL - NEWS & NOTES

When the Chiefs cut C.J. Spiller on Saturday, they were left with two tailbacks on the roster.

They reportedly remedied that on Sunday by reversing course. Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star reports that Spiller re-signed with the team. The Chiefs have not announced any move that would open a spot for the veteran back as yet, however.


It’s possible the Chiefs had eyes on another back that they thought would come free or that they put in a claim on a back who wound up elsewhere before turning back to Spiller. More backs hit the wire on Sunday, so they may not be done maneuvering after the loss of Spencer Ware for the season.

Kareem Hunt and Charcandrick West are the two backs that made it through the initial cut. Spiller ran 11 times for 46 yards in the preseason.

 

Anquan Boldin wants to unretire and join the Patriots and the Patriots want him.

The Bills won't release his rights to join the Patriots and the Patriots are unlikely to trade anything to the Bills for him.


So ya.

 

Browns snagged a Falcons speedster off of waivers. Reggie Davis (the one from University of Georgia) would have been a Falcons practice squad player. Instead, Cleveland claimed him off of waivers.

Davis is one of those undersized turbo guys. He made a big impression with fans during preseason, and many fans are upset that the team kept the more consistent and more experienced Nick Williams instead of the UGA prospect.

 

"The Atlanta Falcons today terminated the contract of Ra'Shede Hageman, who was placed on the Commissioner's Exempt List on Sept. 2," the team wrote in a statement. "The organizational decision to move forward without Hageman was made by the Falcons after a thorough investigative process by local authorities."

Hageman was the Falcons' second-round pick back in 2014, and started 15 games for the team over the last three seasons. He recorded 61 tackles and four sacks during that time.


He's been under investigation for an alleged incident of domestic violence that occurred in March of 2016. Criminal proceedings on the case have concluded but the NFL's investigation remains ongoing.

 

I mentioned earlier that I was trying to track the details of a DV case. Hageman is the player.

The alleged incident occurred in March of LAST year. It actually took 17 months for a misdemeanor case to work its way through the DeKalb County court system. The legal outcome is still unclear, as the entire case is now missing from the court database system - among other things they had a major system outage and are still getting everything back up and running. (It's not just that one case - there is currently no listing of any hearing whatsoever involving the particular judge who was assigned to the case.)

But the bottom line is that the trial is apparently over, the legal process has run its course, and the league and the team have now taken action accordingly.

 

I think the NFL should forget about playing the Texans vs Jaguars game in Jacksonville. Jacksonville is in some of Irma's projected paths and there won't be enough time to prepare a change of location by the time things are certain. It's gonna be anywhere from category 3-5 when it hits the US, likely a 4. This hurricane was originally projected to miss the US by most models. We see how much BS very early hurricane models are. It is now essentially guaranteed to hit the US. Miami is almost guaranteed to have the hurricane hit now in some form or another, with the wall having a decent chance of hitting directly from the southeast or southwest. Miami is already selling out of water and other provisions. The Buccaneers @ Dolphins game is almost certain to be moved to a different city or date. It likely won't be Atlanta as there is a soccer game on Sunday. Monday could work though. Most likely, the game is played on Thursday or Friday. Also, both teams share a week 11 bye so they could lose their bye weeks and just play then.

 

unlimited? where you Grandfathered in? I've been a Verizon customer since 2000 and i don't have unlimited data!

damn! i gotta look into this.

 

Dolphins coach Adam Gase said on Monday that he will have his team prepared to play the Buccaneers if the league decides the game has to be moved from a Sunday 1 p.m. ET kickoff due to Hurricane Irma.

Gase and Bucs coach Dirk Koetter should know if they have to activate any contingency plans pretty soon. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the league will have a conference call on Tuesday morning about whether to move the game.


That call comes as Irma gets stronger. The storm is now classified as a Category Five hurricane with winds of 175 m.p.h. as it moves west toward the Caribbean and Florida. Current projections are that the storm could hit South Florida at some point this weekend and that would obviously make playing a game in Miami a dangerous proposition.

The game could be moved forward in an attempt to beat the storm, moved to another venue or it could be postponed and played in Week 11 when both teams are scheduled for a bye. That would require both teams to play 16 straight weeks, which is just one of several unappealing choices that will have to be weighed with Irma on its way.

 

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones doesn’t say much (relatively speaking) when it comes to running back Ezekiel Elliott‘s ongoing suspension situation. But when Jones talks, he says plenty.

“I don’t want to make the comment, and I know y’all can imagine with all that we have flying around the courtrooms and the basic hearing rooms,” Jones said when asked about Elliott during his Tuesday visit with 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “That would be one I’d pass on this morning.”


And then he added this: “I’ll have good news for you as we get into the week.”

It’s unclear what the nature of the good news would be. The best news would be a decision by arbitrator Harold Henderson to overturn the suspension entirely, which would end the situation and allow Elliott to play.

Jones also was asked whether he expects a decision on Tuesday.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I can give you reasons. We spent time on this the last few days. Timing, as it turns out, is a pretty critical component here in terms of the ambiguity for lack of a better word. There’s a lot of things that impact availability relative to timing both places at the hearing and the court level. And I know — I’m just being redundant with what you guys know — but I really, when you really think hard about it, you don’t know timing wise. But a lot clears up over the next 24 to 36 hours.”

Jones also made reference once again to his concerns with the league’s decision to trump the criminal justice system and conduct its own investigations regarding allegations of misconduct.

“Two years ago or a year and a half ago Zeke wouldn’t even be involved with the issue of domestic violence as far as the NFL’s concerned,” Jones said. “And so just think about that one. When you get into definitions, I don’t want to in any way look like to go light on the gravity of the situation and the victim, but we all can see that trying to figure out victims in these ‘he said, she said’ things are tough.” (from; PFT)

 

NFL distances itself from 4:00 p.m. ET suspension deadline

For years, the NFL has observed a weekly deadline when it comes to the implementation of suspensions. If the suspension isn’t finalized by 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, the suspension gets delayed until the next week.

The dynamic first became widely known in the latter days of StarCaps, when it was clear that long-pending suspensions would be served and a weekly trigger of 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday would determine whether that week would be the week.


The NFL is now distancing itself from this past practice in the Ezekiel Elliott case, telling league employee Tom Pelissero that there is no such rule. But Pelissero acknowledges that the Cowboys believe the deadline applies. (Per a league source, so does Elliott’s camp.)

As one source explained it to PF, the practice arose from concerns of fairness and competitive balance. Teams need to know who they will or won’t be putting on the field, and their opponents need to know who they will or won’t be facing.

It’s unclear why the NFL is suddenly abandoning this practice. Maybe the person most keenly aware of it wasn’t invited to the meeting. (PFT)

 

NFLPA brief says Ezekiel Elliott appeal decision coming Tuesday

There’s been some confusion about whether there is a Tuesday afternoon deadline for a decision from arbitrator Harold Henderson on Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott‘s suspension appeal to impact Elliott’s availability for Week One, but it may turn out to be a moot point.

In a brief filed by the NFLPA and shared by attorney Daniel Wallach, in support of their request for a temporary restraining order blocking any suspension, the union said that Henderson has told all parties that he will issue a ruling before the close of business on Tuesday.


The brief also tackles the NFL’s assertion that the restraining order should be denied on the grounds that the union filed suit prematurely. While the suit was filed before Henderson’s decision, the NFLPA argues that “if the NFLPA and Elliott were forced to wait for the Award to be rendered before filing the Petition, no court would have the opportunity to stop Elliott’s unlawful suspension in its tracks” and that “injunctions are issued when the bulldozer is on the front lawn—not after it has razed the house.”

A hearing on the temporary restraining order is set for Tuesday at 5 p.m. CT. It remains to be seen if that will be after Henderson issues his own decision or not.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/nfl-preview-week-heres-nfls-reign-atop-heap-jeopardy-161330616.html

great read on the possible death of the NFL in years to come....

 

Tyrod Taylor clears concussion protocol, good to go for Sunday...

 

Free agent G Alex Boone has agreed to terms with the Arizona Cardinals...

 

Well, one thing we do know is the Dolphins game will not be played in Miami (duh) this weekend, but the NFL is still up in the air on whether to play on a neutral site or later in Miami towards the end of the season.

 

Jeremy Kerley returns to the Jets...

 

Harold Henderson upheld Ezekiel Elliott‘s six-game suspension, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen first reported, but that doesn’t mean it’s over.

Elliott will play against the Giants on Sunday as the arbitrator’s decision came after the league’s own 4 p.m. deadline for implementation of suspensions. The NFL confirmed in court that Elliott would be on the field, per a source.

Elliott attended a more than two-hour hearing in a Sherman, Texas, courtroom Tuesday in an effort to block the suspension pending outcome of the lawsuit filed by Elliott on Friday.

Henderson heard the appeal over three days last week, and rendered his decision during court.

 

Linebacker Jordan Tripp signs with the Falcons. Atlanta had placed Laroy Reynolds on IR as his pectoral injury (suffered on the opening kickoff of the third preseason game) will require surgery.

 

The Bucs vs Fins game will likely be played in Pennsylvania.