Month: May 2018

Mitchell Trubisky was an NFL infant when he took the field for organized team activities with the Chicago Bears last spring.

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This time around, he’s locked in as the starting quarterback.

That—along with a 94.0 passer rating and a completion percentage of 67.1—was enough to earn Garoppolo a five-year, $137.5 million deal in San Francisco.

When the 49ers kick off OTAs next week, Garoppolo will work practices as a bona fide starting quarterback for the first time in his NFL career.

Soon after San Francisco acquired Garoppolo at the 2017 trade deadline, head coach Kyle Shanahan noted it would be difficult for the former New England Patriots backup to get the system down without having attended the offseason program, per Chris Biderman of USA Today.

Maybe this year she will master just that. Either way, Sherman figures she’ll have a good time participating in a clinic designed to instill in women football fundamentals while raising money for the Epilepsy Foundation.

Toughest tests: Get out the frequent-flier miles. Detroit has West Coast trips to Arizona and San Francisco, plus visits to Dallas and Miami. Buffalo could be a cold-weather challenge. The good news: Minnesota is Detroit’s only road game against a NFC playoff team from last season.

The Cardinals figure to use Johnson in a variety of ways this season so we’ll see how much he actually does wind up running behind a fullback, but the presence of one on the roster is a reminder that Johnson’s returning to a different team than the one he last played for in Week One of the 2017 season.

The 2017 Philadelphia Eagles were unlikely champions, but given that they were a team with consecutive 10-win seasons in 2013 and 2014, we can do better. The obvious candidate is arguably the most unlikely championship team in American sports history.cowboys_075

49ers claim C.J. Goodwin off waivers

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ravens_152Cornerback C.J. Goodwin is getting to see a good bit of the country this offseason.

He opened it as a member of the Cardinals, moved on to the Giants after being waived in early May and is now joining the 49ers. Goodwin was waived by the Giants on Monday and claimed by the Niners on Tuesday.

“We all want the same thing — respect for our nation and the flag, the focus on our game and a pledge to advancing social justice that will be absolute and stand the test of time. I believe we’re closer to that today, and I know that the Jacksonville Jaguars will be committed to those ideals this season and into the future.”

According to multiple reports, Worrilow spent some time on the ground in pain before he was helped in a cart with an air cast on his injured knee.

Worrilow, who started 44 games in four years for the Falcons before playing a single season with the Lions in 2017, signed a one-year deal with the Eagles this offseason.

Philadelphia hoped Worrilow would be an insurance policy behind middle linebacker Jordan Hicks while he recovers from a ruptured Achilles. Now it appears the defending Super Bowl champs will have to find a Plan C.

The Golden Knights are Canada’s team because the legacy of the Canadian Football League’s Las Vegas Posse will not be ignored nor denied, especially that time their anthem singer sang “O Canada” to the tune of “O Christmas Tree.”

The Golden Knights are Canada’s team because they played by the rules. Granted, they were incredibly generous, unprecedented rules, but what else does one expect when one pays $500 million for a hockey team — or $644 million Canadian?ravens_149

Stephen Jones: Cowboys support whatever decision Jason Witten makes

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The Cowboys will give Jason Witten all the time he needs to make a decision on his future. Everyone expects the tight end to retire after 15 seasons and join Monday Night Football, but he has yet to make it official.

Witten has not shown up for voluntary offseason workouts at the team’s training facility this week after meeting with owner Jerry Jones on Friday.

The Cowboys continue patiently to wait for word.

“We support what’s best for him. We don’t need to be talking him into something. He knows we are a much better football team with him. We would love to have him. At the same time, we are going to be so supportive of him.”

Witten made 1,152 catches for 12,448 yards and 68 touchdowns in playing 239 of a possible 240 games in his career. The other tight ends on the Cowboys’ roster — Rico Gathers, Geoff Swaim, Blake Jarwin and fourth-round pick Dalton Schultz — have combined to make nine catches for 94 yards and no touchdowns in 29 career games.

“It was actually very enjoyable,” he said. “The goal is to get to No. 32 and we’re getting closer and closer.”

When you’re picking 29th, there are more possibilities for players to be chosen ahead of you, and Caldwell said he had a pretty good idea of who would be remaining on the board when the Jaguars’ pick came up. Caldwell said he does look at mock drafts, which rarely get picks exactly right but often put players in the correct general range.

“There is some validity to those,” Caldwell said. “It’s a good baseline for some checks and balances.”

Once No. 29 came up, Caldwell took defensive tackle Taven Bryan. Although the defensive front isn’t necessarily a need for the Jaguars, Caldwell said Bryan will play plenty of snaps this year.broncos_031_ac2d76cea3733a15-180x180

Bears won’t pick up Kevin White option

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The Bears still have hopes for Kevin White.

They’re just not going to spend that much money on those hopes.

According to Mike Garofolo of the NFL Network, the Bears won’t be picking up the wide receiver’s $13.9 million option for 2019.

My priorities remain the same—to move forward and strive to be the best coach, teacher, and man that I can possibly be.

Team president Rod Wood and general manager Bob Quinn said they weren’t aware of the allegation when they hired Patricia, but they released a statement in support of their coach.

Meachem, a first-round pick in 2007, made $22.6 million in eight NFL seasons, according to Spotrac. He retired after the 2014 season.

Meachem briefly was jailed in Louisiana last year for failing to pay $388,000 in child support and alimony.

It’s possible, but the defensively challenged Raiders are probably more than happy to risk $5.5 million to find out.

As one of the youngest teams in the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers probably knew entering this offseason that they could use a leader who has been there, done that. That’s what they found in veteran cornerback Sherman, who signed a three-year, $27.2 million deal in San Francisco after he was released as a cap casualty in Seattle.

Sherman is on the wrong side of 30 and recovering from a ruptured Achilles, but the incentive-laden contract he personally negotiated with the 49ers puts the team on the hook for only $7 million in guaranteed money (which includes his base salary for the season).

That’s a team friendly deal for a player who is only a year removed from a four-interception Pro Bowl season. broncos_066_2329c462ed7b11a6-180x180

Shane Ray won’t have 2019 option picked up

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Linebacker Shane Ray said in April that he expected the Broncos to exercise their option on his contract for the 2019 season, but that’s not how things are going to play out.

A report this week indicated that the Broncos were likely to pass on the option, which would set up a salary of $9.232 million guaranteed against injury only, and Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic reports that they have indeed declined it.

While the Broncos had been noncommittal about their plans before Ray shared his opinion, the picture changed during the first round of the draft last Thursday night. That’s when the Broncos landed Bradley Chubb with the fifth overall pick to give them a pass rusher to pair with Von Miller in hopes of realizing a bigger return than Ray has provided over the last three seasons.

Our athletic director and football and basketball coaches would often thank us after games for creating a great home-game environment.

In 2014, several former members of the Buffalo Bills cheerleading team, the Buffalo Jills, sued the Bills for not being paid for the majority of the hours they worked.

Faced with the lawsuit, the Bills suspended operations for their cheerleading team; the Jills have not been revived.

Speaking for the first time since Bryant’s departure, McClay’s comments on ESPN 103.3 matched a report from early last month that the Cowboys believe Bryant no longer is the same player he was when they signed him to a five-year, $70 million contract in the 2015 offseason.

“It was a collective deal,” McClay said of Bryant’s release, via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “The [inability] to win one-on-one, to win downfield. There was inconsistency as well as some huge things in his play. So what’s best moving forward for Dez Bryant the Cowboys, we just made that decision. It’s a production-based business.”

I felt like I was paying to be a cheerleader, she says.

We would all say on the Dolphins that it is a full-time job and part-time pay.

Dolphins cheerleaders practiced three times per week in Miami, plus an added practice on Saturdays during weeks when they had a performance during a home game.

On top of that, she was frequently requested for appearances in the community, which she loved doing.broncos_124_25dd8df54867975b-180x180

The Saints’ two-headed rushing attack just lost one of its heads.

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Running back Mark Ingram was suspended four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. Ingram is coming off career highs of 1,124 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns in his seventh pro season and is headed into a contract year.

Ingram will miss games against the Buccaneers, Browns, Falcons and Giants. He is eligible to participate in all offseason practices and preseason games.

Responding to a published report this evening from the Detroit News, The Detroit Lions are aware that a criminal charge involving sexual assault was brought against Matt Patricia in 1996, the statement said. Matt was 21 at the time and on spring break in Texas. The charge was dismissed by the prosecutor at the request of the complaining individual prior to trial. As a result, Coach Patricia never had the opportunity to present his case or clear his name publicly in a court of law. He has denied that there was any factual basis for the charge. There was no settlement agreement with the complaining individual, no money exchanged hands and there was no confidentiality agreement. In discussions today with Lions management, the reporter involved acknowledged that the allegations have not been substantiated.

Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee shared some of the previously unreported details from the Feb. 11 police report, and Foster’s ex-girlfriend Elissa Ennis told police the former Alabama star threw her dog across the room during an argument the night before. Ennis said the dog was not injured.

Foster insists he never assaulted Ennis, but he apparently admitted to smashing two of her cell phones, one just outside his house as she was calling 911 on Feb. 11.

Kareem Martin, DE, North Carolina 3 (91). John Brown, WR, Pittsburg State 4 (120). Logan Thomas, QB, Virginia Tech 5 (160). Ed Stinson, DE, Alabama 6 (196). Walt Powell, WR, Murray State Deone Bucannon has been somewhat of a revolution, moving from safety to linebacker. Smaller-but-faster at that position can work in today’s NFL, where so many runs take place out of three-receiver sets, and where so many teams throw the ball on first and second down.sharks-027

2018 undrafted free agent tracker: Signings from all 32 NFL teams in one spot

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After three crazy days, the 2018 NFL Draft is finally in the books, however, that doesn’t mean the excitement is over for your favorite team. As a matter of fact, the fun is just getting started. Over the next few days, every team in the NFL will be looking to beef up its roster by adding the best available undrafted free agents, and these are names you’re definitely going to want to keep track of, because, if NFL history has taught us one thing, it’s that undrafted free agents can end up making some serious contributions on the field.

It was an explosive story. It stated there were rifts between Patriots owner Robert Kraft, coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. It suggested that last season, which ended in a Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia, might be the last one together for the group.

The Patriots forcefully pushed back against the story. The team released a statement denying any tensions between the group, which read in part: For the past 18 years, the three of us have enjoyed a very good and productive working relationship. In recent days, there have been multiple media reports that have speculated theories that are unsubstantiated, highly exaggerated or flat out inaccurate.

We’re going to basically expose him to everything, Maccagnan said on The Rich Eisen Show Wednesday. We’re going to give him the opportunity to go out there learn and earn the position. Of course, our focus is not necessarily to throw him into the fire until he’s earned it. We’re very excited about him, his upside and potential. He’s going to have every opportunity to go out there and hopefully fulfill every potential we see in him.

It’s worth mentioning that signing McClain to a contract won’t impact a team’s 2019 compensatory picks, given that he was released this offseason.

McClain, 29, is a former third-round pick of the Panthers back in 2011.

Wide receiver: The 49ers did extend Marquise Goodwin and are happy about what he and Pierre Garcon can do as busy targets for Garoppolo, but after not dipping into free agency for a little more size and red zone pop, that need must be addressed at some point.

Cornerback: Sherman, Witherspoon, Ward and K’Waun Williams could end up being a good group, but given Sherman’s age, Witherspoon’s youth and Ward and Williams’ uncertainty in sub packages, the 49ers need more quality depth and upside.tigers_069-115x115