NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Report: Vontaze Burfict facing four-game PED suspension

The Bengals just signed some linebacker help, and they may need it for the first quarter of the season.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict is facing a four-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.

Burfict is no stranger to suspensions, but this is his first for PEDs.

The date for his appeal has not been set.

Burfict played just 10 games last year between injuries and suspensions. The Bengals signed linebacker Preston Brown earlier today.

 

I'm somewhat surprised this got past Will . . .

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson passed away at the age of 90.

 

Sheldon Richardson to Vikings on a one-year deal

The Vikings just made another big purchase.

This time, literally.

The Vikings have announced that they have agreed to a one-year deal with former Jets and Seahawks defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson.

The one-year deal’s an interesting one, as Richardson may not have found the kind of long-term love he was seeking. But with a short-term deal with what is expected to be a talented team, he’s in good position to cash in a year from now. (PFT)

 

Jeremy Hill signing with Patriots

The Patriots have found Dion Lewis‘ replacement.

Jeremy Hill will join Rex Burkhead, James White and Mike Gillislee in the Patriots’ backfield, having come to terms with New England, Field Yates of ESPN reports. Hill visited the Patriots on Friday.


Hill, 25, was a second-round pick of the Bengals in 2014. He rushed for 2,873 yards and 29 touchdowns in his four seasons in Cincinnati.

Hill played seven games last season, going on injured reserve with an ankle injury. He averaged only 3.1 yards in gaining 116 yards.

His best season came as a rookie when he rushed for 1,124 yards.

 

Report: Lions agree to one-year, $4.5 million deal with LeGarrette Blount

The Lions have reached a one-year, $4.5 million deal with running back LeGarrette Blount, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.

Detroit also had interest in DeMarco Murray, Jonathan Stewart and Frank Gore.


The Lions are trying to upgrade a running game that ranked 32nd in the NFL last season.

New Lions coach Matt Patricia coached the defense in New England when Blount played there.

Blount, 31, gained 766 yards and scored two touchdowns on 173 carries last season in Philadelphia. He has 5,881 rushing yards and 51 career touchdowns and has played in 11 postseason games in his eight seasons.

 

Kyle Fuller gets $4 million more per year than Bears had offered

Before Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller signed an offer sheet with the Packers, the best offer the Bears had made to him averaged $10 million per year, per a source with knowledge of the negotiations. Fuller emerges instead with a four-year deal worth $14 million per year.

The deal includes an $18 million signing bonus, payable within 10 days. Contrast that with the $13 million transition tender, which would have been paid out in 17 installments from September through December.


The deal also includes a $1 million base salary in 2018, $500,000 in per-game roster bonuses, and a $500,000 workout bonus. That’s cash flow of $20 million in the first year.

The cash flow through two years is $29 million, and it’s $42 million through three. The full value of the deal is $56 million over four.

The structure reflects what the Packers do with every player except Aaron Rodgers: No guarantees beyond the signing bonus. The fact that the Packers extended the offer sheet continues to be surprising, in part because it goes against their past approach to free agency, and in part because the money and cap space could have been tied up for as many as five days, if the Bears had decided to take their full allotment of time to ponder whether to match.

The end result is that the Packers negotiated the deal for the Bears, at no cost to Chicago. At a minimum, the Bears should give Abe Froman a call and send a gift basket full of pork products to Green Bay. (PFT)

 

Good news for Lions fans!!! The Lombardi trophy has been following LG Bluntz around lately.

 

Tyrann Mathieu signed with the Texans. 1 year $7 million

 

Maybe the Lions have a 100 yard rushing game next season... maybe.

 

fug

 

I don't know about any of that, but I do know that with LG around, there'll be plenty of blunt-smokin' next season.

 

Danny Woodhead retires



Danny Woodhead, a running back who arrived in the NFL as an undrafted rookie in 2008 and lasted a decade in the league, has decided to call it a career.

The 33-year-old Woodhead wrote on Instagram that he is retiring.

“God had crazy plans for a small little kid from North Platte, NE!” Woodhead wrote. “It’s been a wild ride and feel so blessed He allowed me to do what I loved for so long. But now it’s time to say goodbye to the game I love.”

Woodhead was a high school football star who was overlooked by major colleges and instead went to Division II Chadron State. There he became the best player in Dviision II football, twice winning the Harlon Hill Trophy, the Heisman of Division II.

Despite that career, Woodhead was not invited to the Scouting Combine and wasn’t drafted, but he signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent. After spending his rookie year on injured reserve, he put on a show in the preseason of 2009, rushing for 158 yards in one preseason game. That was enough to earn him a spot on the practice squad, and he was eventually called up to the active roster.

After the Jets cut him in 2010 the Patriots picked him up, and he flourished in New England. Woodhead had 97 carries for 547 yards and another 34 catches for 379 yards in his first year with the Patriots. He would spend three years with the Patriots before signing with the Chargers, spend four years in San Diego, and finish his career last year in Baltimore.

The 5-foot-8 Woodhead looked undersized, but he never let that get in the way of his play on the field. His legacy will be that of a guy who was doubted coming into the league, but proved with his play that he belonged.

 

Wow, that’s a lot. Jets have their eye on someone in particular.

NYJ gets #3
Indy gets #6, 37, 49, a 2019 pick that should fall between 33-45.

3 second rounders to move up 3 spots.

 

That changes things and really makes it interesting. Some tough decisions and scrambling now... and maybe the Jets are not done.

 

If you exclude last year, our last five second round draft picks have been;

Christian Hackenberg, Devin Smith, Jace Amaro, Geno Smith and Stephen Hill.

We're obviously cursed in the second round so might as well give them all away for a chance at a franchise QB.

 

I assume one of the QBs?

 

Can’t argue with that list, point taken.

Who’s the Jets guy? Darnold?