AROUND THE NFL
Daily Briefing
An update on the NFL and its state of COVID reaction from Chase Goodbread ofNFL.com as the NFL pushes with the NFLPA for a vaccine mandate:
The NFL has reached a vaccination rate of nearly 93 percent among its players and above 99 percent among staff members, according to NFL Chief Medical Officer Allen Sills, who spoke Thursday on a media teleconference after clubs had been collectively briefed on the league’s latest findings on COVID-19.
According to Sills, there were 68 positive results among 7,190 tests for the virus between Aug. 1 to Aug. 21, for a positivity rate of 0.95 percent. Vaccinated players tested positive at a rate of 0.3 percent, while unvaccinated players tested positive at a rate seven times higher (2.2 percent), Sills added.
“I feel we are in a much better place than we were last year at this time (because) we have a much more complete understanding of this virus and its transmission, and the testing and identification of it,” Sills said.
NFL general counsel Larry Ferazani said the league has proposed to the NFL Players Association that vaccinated players be tested once a week rather than biweekly, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The union’s preference is for daily testing. Ferazani added that the NFL has been pushing for mandatory vaccinations for players. About 200 players leaguewide remain unvaccinated.
“We would still love to see that mandate go into effect tomorrow,” Ferazani said, per Pelissero.
Nearly all positive cases in the NFL have been the virus’ Delta variant, and Sills noted that vaccinated individuals testing positive have largely experienced milder symptoms with shorter duration.
“Our challenge right now, and something we discussed with the ownership, is certainly that we are in a major surge,” Sills said. “It is no secret … what the impact of the Delta variant is having. It is a very different disease in many ways. Different in the symptom profile it causes, particularly in vaccinated individuals. Different in its transmissibility and its spread. But despite those differences, we know that the mitigation measures are the same.”
NFL chief football administrative officer Dawn Aponte said while there isn’t a vaccine mandate for officials, they are unionized and must follow similar protocols to players based on their vaccination status.
The NFL continues to maintain the expectation of full-capacity stadiums at games this fall.
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For about $8 mil per team, the NFL has forgotten about its previous opposition to gambling. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:
The NFL has gone from hating gambling to loving it, because the NFL has found a way to turn gambling into an extremely viable revenue stream.
With more and more American states legalizing sports wagering, and with the NFL abandoning its past shunning of most things gambling, the league will be making plenty of money from its altered position.
Via the Washington Post, the league expects to generate roughly $270 million in revenue this year from sports betting and gambling deals. NFL executive V.P. and chief strategy and growth officer Christoper Halpin says that, eventually, gambling will become a 10-figure revenue stream. Annually.
“You can definitely see the market growing to $1 billion-plus of league opportunity over this decade,” Halpin told the Post.
That’s great news for football, but it comes with an inherent warning for the current stewards of the game. If some of that revenue isn’t devoted to ensuring the accuracy of calls, protecting inside information, preventing corruption of coaches, players, and officials, and otherwise safeguarding the integrity of the game, the league will be stepping into a bear trap, eventually.
As more and more dollars are legally bet on pro football games, governmental officials will demand that the playing field becomes as level as possible. One scandal will potentially light a fuse for legislation, regulation, and/or prosecution.
Early in the process of various states adopting gambling programs, some sports leagues wanted a piece of the action for the sole purpose of financing programs aimed at ensuring the integrity of the games. That approach never took root, but that doesn’t mean the sports leagues shouldn’t strive for the highest degree of integrity possible.
If they fail, the federal government will do it for them. Thus, the NFL and the other sports leagues must think creatively and proactively to identify all potential problems and to solve them. Unfortunately, creative and proactive thought and execution isn’t one of the NFL’s strong suits.
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NFC EAST
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DALLAS
RB EZEKIEL ELLIOTT has agreed to a re-structuring. Kevin Patra of NFL.com:
The Cowboys performed a simple restructure of Ezekiel Elliott’s contract to free up cap space ahead of the 2021 season.
Dallas converted $8.6 million of Elliott’s $9.6 million base salary for the ’21 campaign into a signing bonus, which clears $6.88 million in cap space, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported, per sources informed of the situation.
The restructuring maneuver is a normal one every team does to free up cap space. It’s become particularly prevalent in COVID seasons as clubs kick the can down the road. The accounting solution spreads the bonus over the remaining years of the contract to lower the cap number in the present.
The restructuring provides the Cowboys with $12 million in cap space for 2021, which is plenty to get through the normal yearly transactions. It could also offer cushion if there is a higher-priced player that Dallas wants to chase via trade at any point during the season. Or the Cowboys could be planning ahead and looking to rollover cap space into next season when it’s still not expected to fully rebound to pre-COVID expectations.
The move increases Zeke’s 2022 cap number by $1.72 million to $18.22 million, per Over The Cap, but since his salary for next year was guaranteed anyway, the slight bump makes little difference for Dallas in the grand scheme. The earliest the Cowboys could move on from Elliott’s contract is 2023, which would still cost $11.86 million in dead money.
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NEW YORK GIANTS
Most of those recovering from surgeries seem to readying for Week 1 (not WR MICHAEL THOMAS of the Saints, of course), but one player in doubt is Giants RB SAQUON BARKLEY. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:
Giants running back Saquon Barkley will not play at all in the preseason. Whether he plays in the regular season opener remains to be seen.
Coach Joe Judge confirmed today that while most of the Giants’ starters will play the first half in Sunday’s preseason finale, Barkley will not, and neither will tight end Kyle Rudolph or wide receiver Kenny Golladay.
Barkley, who tore his ACL in Week Two last year, took another step toward returning yesterday when he was on the field for 11-on-11 work. But the Giants have not made any determination about whether he can play Week One against the Broncos.
Barkley said he felt good after yesterday’s practice and sounded optimistic about his chances of returning soon. But he acknowledged that he hasn’t gone 100 percent in a live game-like situation yet, and it’s unclear when he will.
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NFC SOUTH
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CAROLINA
The Panthers are shuffling kickers to challenge PK JOEY SLYE. Anthony Rizutti of USA TODAY:
After what’s gone down in the sudden Carolina Panthers’ kicking competition over the previous two days, we thought we had a heated one-on-one battle on our hands. And we still do, but just with a different opponent.
The Panthers announced the acquisition of kicker Ryan Santoso on Thursday afternoon. This trade, one that’ll send back a conditional 2022 seventh-round pick to the New York Giants, comes less than 48 hours following the signing of the German-born boot Dominik Eberle.
Santoso, a big boy of a kicker at 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds, cracked into the league out of the University of Minnesota with the Detroit Lions back in 2018. He’d also go on to brief stints with the Tennessee Titans and the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes before joining the Giants.
New York did like the work Santoso put in for them during his time there, most recently having converted on an extra point attempt and bombing three touchbacks in three tries in this past week’s preseason contest. But, with (old friend) Graham Gano having clamps on the kicking job, there was no room for the 26-year-old.
To make room for Santoso, Eberle has been cut by the team. He and Joey Slye, the struggling incumbent, will now compete in what’s quickly become the Great Carolina Foot Fight of 2021.
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The Panthers had made LB DENZEL PERRYMAN a free agent signing despite a checkered injury history with the Chargers. Then, he proclaimed his unvaccinated status while missing preseason work with a pair of injuries. He was traded to the Raiders (you can read more at LAS VEGAS). This is Anthony Rizzuti of USA TODAY on who takes his place.
What then made this move even easier to swallow was the ascension of fellow linebacker Jermaine Carter Jr. Yup, Perryman got Wally Pipp’d.
Carter Jr., a fifth-round selection by the organization back from 2018, has worked his absolute tail off from the start and took away the starting role Perryman signed on to have. Through his three, now almost four-year career, he’s shown tangible improvements as an athlete, a firm grasp on the ins and outs of the position and that he’s a leader his teammates can get behind.
Head coach Matt Rhule has caught a beat on it for the year and a half he’s been around, rewarding Carter Jr.’s work with the nod at the heart of his defense. Not to mention, he’s steadily become a fan favorite for his admirable progression and even received a sparkling review from a certain franchise legend who doesn’t often give out the nicest of opinions.
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NEW ORLEANS
The Saints preseason finale will be a day game. ESPN.com:
The Saints and Cardinals will kick off seven hours earlier than originally scheduled for Saturday’s preseason finale to avoid any complications with a possible hurricane headed toward New Orleans.
The game will now begin at 1 p.m. ET inside the Caesars Superdome. Tropical Storm Ida is on track to make landfall in southern Louisiana on Sunday night, with the possibility that it could strengthen into a hurricane by then.
The Saints announced the change as a way of “making proper and safe preparations regarding the potential landfall of Hurricane Ida and following consultation and agreement with City of New Orleans officials, the National Weather Service, Homeland Security and the NFL.”
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While there has been no public announcement, the Saints have internally settled on QB JAMEIS WINSTON as their starter. Mike Triplett of ESPN.com:
Jameis Winston has officially secured his second chance.
Winston, 27, will be the New Orleans Saints’ starting quarterback in Week 1 when they host the Green Bay Packers, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday.
It will be Winston’s first start since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers decided to move on from him following the 2019 season. And it will be a chance for the former Heisman Trophy winner and 2015 No. 1 overall draft choice to revive his career after he was derailed by turnovers in Tampa.
Meanwhile, the Saints will be trying to prove they can remain a playoff contender in the wake of Drew Brees’ retirement. This will be the first time in 16 years that someone other than Brees has entered the season as New Orleans’ starting QB.
“I would love to carry that torch from him,” Winston said earlier this year when he got emotional while talking about how much it meant to him to spend last season as Brees’ backup. “I would love to be able to provide the excitement and joy and resilience that he provided for this city.”
Winston earned this opportunity by outperforming Taysom Hill in the preseason. The two of them split first-team reps equally throughout training camp and the first two exhibition games. But Winston made the decision easier with a dynamic performance in Monday night’s win over the Jacksonville Jaguars — completing 9 of 10 passes for 123 yards and two deep touchdowns to receiver Marquez Callaway.
Hill, 31, went all-in this offseason to become a full-time starting quarterback after he went 3-1 as a starter last season while filling in for an injured Brees. Hill slimmed down and tailored his offseason workouts to the QB position specifically. But it seems likely that the Saints will now want to continue using Hill’s versatility as a read-option QB/RB/WR/TE after he has been so special in that role over the past three years.
Winston went 28-42 as a starter with the Buccaneers from 2015-2019, completing 61.3% of his passes with 19,737 yards, 121 touchdowns and 88 interceptions.
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NFC WEST
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SAN FRANCISCO
More indications that Kyle Shanahan is going to emulate, to a point, the Drew Brees-Taysom Hill dynamic with his 2021 49ers. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:
On Wednesday, 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo seemed to inadvertently disclose that, if he’s the starter, he’ll be leaving the field periodically for Trey Lance. Since then, 49ers G.M. John Lynch seemed to confirm that.
Appearing on KNBR, Lynch explained that the 49ers have refrained from using that approach in the preseason, in order to keep regular-season opponents guessing.
“[I]f we are in a situation like that, yes, it’s difficult to prepare for,” Lynch said, via 49ersWebZone.com. “We haven’t shown a lot in the preseason as well in terms of the things we can do with both Trey and Jimmy. But that’s not only for us. That’s league wide. You really don’t know, going into the first couple of games, what you’re going to see.”
The 49ers clearly want to force opposing defenses to be ready for both players.
“That is something that we kind of are looking forward to, the amount of time that people are going to have to put in, preparing for each quarterback,” Lynch said.
That still doesn’t mean Garoppolo will be the Week One starter. While it seems to be pointing that way, everything is subject to change. The preseason finale will give the 49ers another data point before Week One at the Lions.
“We’re still looking for the answers, and we’re going to throw these guys out there a little bit on Sunday and see if we find out a little more,” Lynch said. “You just take in as much information, and you see who gives us the best chance.”
The 49ers seemingly hope that will be Lance, given what they gave up to get him. If it’s Garoppolo, expect to still see plenty of Lance.
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LOS ANGELES RAMS
There seems to be a growing sense that playing on its homefield, the people of St. Louis and Missouri could win a king’s ransom from the Rams for the way they escaped to L.A.
Daniel Kaplan and Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic.com on the state of the case:
“We are disappointed anyone associated with the NFL would dismiss the (relocation) bylaws in any way.”
That comment could have come this week in the St. Louis courtroom where the NFL urged a state judge to dismiss a 5-year-old lawsuit brought by the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority over the 2016 move of the Rams to Los Angeles. It actually was uttered in 2015 by the then-head of the St. Louis stadium task force, Dave Peacock, in response to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones saying Rams owner Stan Kroenke should just leave, essentially ignoring all the hoo-ha over the league’s relocation guidelines.
Well, it’s no longer just anyone, but rather the league’s own lawyers saying the relocation guidelines, which talk about a team needing to make a good faith effort to stay in market, are not binding.
Relocation guidelines don’t represent a contract, there are no promises, NFL outside counsel John Hall told Judge Christopher McGraugh this week. In regard to the allegation of the Rams/NFL not negotiating in good faith, Hall responded the obligation to negotiate in good faith is not required. And the relocation guidelines do not restrict the club from negotiating with another community, he said.
This is essentially the NFL saying the quiet part out loud: The NFL may have once touted the relocation guidelines, but they are meaningless. For those tracking every tidbit of information from this case (a tall order given nearly everything is sealed), Hall’s argument just confirms where this train has been heading.
In fact, the St. Louis counsel, Chris Bauman, led his rebuttal by saying the NFL is rehashing the same claims it has made since 2016. The NFL can’t run away from the relocation guidelines; they are a contract, he said.
But to a national audience, hearing from the NFL that there is no requirement to negotiate in good faith is jarring.
“Watch out Buffalo,” texted Jim Quinn, a lawyer for the city of Oakland, Calif., which is also suing over the loss of its team. A federal district court ruled against Oakland, a point emphasized by Hall for the NFL (the ruling is under appeal). Buffalo, N.Y., where the Bills are seeking a new stadium, is the latest city in the NFL’s aging stadium dock.
The league in 1984 crafted the guidelines after the NFL tried to stop the Raiders from moving (ironically given the current case) to Los Angeles. The team successfully sued, with an appellate court noting the league did not have rules about teams shifting cities. On the surface, the guidelines are stringent. Two examples: a team must toil in “good faith” to remain in the market and cannot relocate for more money.
St. Louis attorney Bauman essentially called the NFL argument that it need not follow its own rules hogwash. Bauman pointed out the many times NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s statements have called for good-faith negotiations. He mentioned that in Goodell’s own deposition, he says that the guidelines are an obligation. Bauman said those admissions put to bed the notion of whether the relocation guidelines are a contract.
By contract, he means binding on the teams and cities that host them. The league position is whatever contractual rights St. Louis may have possessed vanished with the expiration of the Rams lease. It’s the same argument it made in Oakland.
As bold as the NFL’s argument is that its relocation guidelines are not to be taken literally, the response to St Louis’ fraud claim is arguably even brasher. The St. Louis plaintiffs, who are seeking billions of dollars, also want back the $18 million spent developing plans for a riverfront stadium. They say Kroenke and the league had no intention of staying. The NFL counters that St Louis should have known the Rams were as good as gone. In other words, the city was naive.
St. Louis should not win on fraud because it knew about the Rams’ move and spent millions of dollars after learning about the likely move, argued a second NFL outside counsel, Andrew Kassof. Therefore the $18 million fraud claim filed by St. Louis should be invalid, he said.
The NFL held meetings throughout late 2015 to debate stadiums in St. Louis, Oakland and San Diego. At a meeting in November 2015 at league headquarters, the three cities made their pitches and St. Louis was the furthest along in its new stadium plans. On the climax day of the vote in January 2016, an owners committee initially blocked the Rams move.
Bauman responded that just because Kroenke never engaged in local stadium talks does not mean St. Louis should have assumed he was gone and stopped spending money on trying to keep them. They were still trying to negotiate in good faith, he said, and the NFL also never told St. Louis to stop spending and working on keeping them.
There appears little chance McGraugh will toss the case, having already ordered key owners to hand over their personal financials for a potential guilty jury verdict. The NFL next week is scheduled to ask for a change in venue, apparently believing it can’t get a fair trial in St. Louis. The league has asked for the courtroom to be cleared for that Aug. 31 hearing.
The jury trial is scheduled to start Jan 10.
This from Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:
The NFL doesn’t like being accused of making up the rules as it goes. The NFL often makes up the rules as it goes.
When it comes to the lawsuit filed against the NFL in the aftermath of the relocation of the Rams from St. Louis, the NFL is arguing (among other things) that the relocation guidelines can be ignored whenever the owners feel like doing so.
And so the league is disavowing the relocation guidelines as to the departure of the Rams from St. Louis. Years earlier, the league adopted the relocation guidelines as a tool for preventing teams that it doesn’t want to move from moving.
So, basically, the guidelines apply when the league (i.e., the owners) wants them to. And the guidelines don’t apply when the league (i.e., the owners) wants them to not apply.
The NFL’s lawyers made that argument in court this week, via TheAthletic.com. Previously, that argument was made in documents filed by the league.
Excerpts from Commissioner Roger Goodell’s deposition illustrate the cake-and-eat-it balancing act that happens when the owners vote on a potential move, given the relocation guidelines. Basically, the owners ultimately have the power to decide individually whether a move should be approved. The collective outcome of the vote will control whether the move happens. So if enough of the owners choose to follow the guidelines to keep a team from moving, so be it. If enough of the owners choose to not follow the guidelines to let a team move, so be it.
Basically, it’s whatever the owners want to do. Whenever they want to do it. However they want to do it.
In other words, they make up the rules as it goes.
The NFL also argued that the relocation guidelines, even if they are binding, don’t create contractual rights for cities that host NFL teams. While other claims have been made by St. Louis over the relocation of the Rams, the question of whether the guidelines transform places like St. Louis into what the law would regard as a “third-party beneficiary” becomes a legal question for a judge, not a factual question for a jury.
As reported by TheAthletic.com, a lawyer who is representing Oakland in its lawsuit against the league over the latest relocation of the Raiders had this message for the next city that could find itself on the wrong end of the league’s relocation rules: “Watch out Buffalo.”
And Jacksonville. And Charlotte. And any other city whose lease with an NFL team is expiring. If the league wants the team to move, it will move. If the league doesn’t want the team to move, it won’t move.
Everything else is just words and details aimed at justifying whatever decision the owners make.
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AFC WEST
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LAS VEGAS
Here is what the Raiders got in unvaccinated LB DENZEL PERRYMAN per Anthony Rizzuti of USA TODAY:
Linebacker Denzel Perryman arrived at Carolina Panthers training camp in Spartanburg, S.C. with a cup of coffee, literally. And that cup of coffee is now all he’s had with the team, figuratively.
On Wednesday night, the Panthers traded the 28-year-old defender to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a mere pittance. The sudden deal comes just five months after the sides agreed to a two-year, $6 million deal in free agency back in March.
Perryman, who had played in 43 of a possible 64 games over the past four seasons due to numerous injuries, dragged his health struggles with him to Carolina. That’s where the un-perfect storm of events began.
After already having dealt with ankle, knee and thigh issues while with the Los Angeles Chargers, he couldn’t make it to the field entirely as a Panther, sitting out much of camp with a hip flexor. And when that was finally healed, he was stepped on by another player and forced out again with an injured foot.
Perryman was unable to participate in joint practices and, obviously, any preseason game action against the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens. That, however, wasn’t all.
The seventh-year veteran went on record in front reporters last month saying he had chosen not to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. While that, of course, is a personal choice completely up to him, it’s not a particularly beneficial one for the state of his football team.
Wherever he or anyone else stands on the issue, there’s no doubt that vaccinations do provide a competitive edge not only in the NFL, but for any professional sport. You can’t play with players that are out with positive COVID tests.
The more your team is shielded, the more personnel you’ll have at your disposal. Perryman, while he was in his right to do so, did present a threat to the roster as long as he decided to remain unvaccinated.
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So it was more injuries, no vaccine and a rising star zooming past from behind that all did in Perryman. (And you’d imagine a speeding ticket being one of the first impressions on a new team can’t help much either.) The storm wasn’t perfect for Perryman, but perfect enough to end his listless tenure with the Panthers at 162 days.
The best ability is availability, especially here in 2021. Perryman, simply, wasn’t available.
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AFC SOUTH
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TENNESSEE
Gentry Estes of The Tennessean says the 2021 COVID outbreak for the Titans is not as bad as 2020 – because they have the protection of vaccination:
Were it not for this preseason flare-up of COVID-19 on the Tennessee Titans, there’s something I wouldn’t know about newly arrived free-agent offensive lineman Kendall Lamm:
He has asthma.
Lamm told reporters about that when asked about the virus after practice Thursday.
“It’s something that I don’t play about,” he said. “I really don’t.”
We’ve focused a lot this NFL preseason on criticism from players like Cole Beasley or DeAndre Hopkins or others who’ve bristled about the strict protocols for unvaccinated players. Much like our society at large, those in the NFL who’ve been opposed to vaccination garner the most attention, because they make convenient lightning rods on social media to a deeply polarized populace.
In reality, though, the vast majority of NFL players have quietly been vaccinated and jumped on board.
Maybe we should start listening more to the Kendall Lamms of this league.
Here’s a guy who has every reason to let COVID fears distract him as he works each day in the facility to get past an injury and become the Titans’ starting right tackle.
But, actually, Lamm doesn’t sound overly concerned.
“The protocols and stuff they do here, they’re on it top-notch,” Lamm said. “And I truly appreciate that. For someone who has asthma, it lets me sleep better at night knowing we’re adhering to it.”
The Titans have stepped up this week on their own, increasing masking and other precautions. But the protocols in place are largely from the league.
I don’t say this often … but bravo, NFL. Good job, NFLPA.
The league and its players association often make easy and deserving targets for seemingly everything. Each has caught heat over the COVID protocols they’d negotiated for this season.
But they are already being proven correct.
COVID-19 has returned with a Delta variant-fueled vengeance at the same time the NFL nears a new season, and those protocols — which are tied closely to the vaccines — are a reason why teams like the Titans can treat situations like this week as a relative speed bump rather than the wrecking ball it was a season ago.
Perhaps last season is a reason, too, why the Titans have done so well with vaccination. They are at 97-98% vaccinated or with antibodies, general manager Jon Robinson said Thursday. That could prove to be a competitive advantage during the regular season.
It’s already helping now. The Titans practiced Thursday as normal without coach Mike Vrabel and a small group of coaches and players, including quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who was added Thursday to the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
But the Titans did practice.
They’re expected to play their third preseason game Saturday night.
That’s something they weren’t able to do during their in-season COVID outbreak of 2020, which ended up lasting through two weekends, postponing two Titans games. It was the worst outbreak an NFL team endured last season.
Any expectation of chaos or panic, though, among the current Titans as cases have returned this week would be far from reality. Thursday was remarkably routine.
Why?
“Number one thing is most of the guys are vaccinated,” safety Kevin Byard said, “so we feel pretty good about that.”
If that’s not enough reason to credit the vaccines and NFL’s protocols, then there’s Tannehill himself.
If you recall, the Titans quarterback didn’t want to get vaccinated. He reluctantly agreed he said, solely because of those NFL protocols. He didn’t want to be ostracized from teammates.
As I wrote at the time, you’d rather it have been the carrot than the stick. But the stick was a good thing. If Tannehill does have COVID — not all players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list are for positive tests, after all — his odds would be better to avoid significant symptoms and sickness because the NFL pushed him to get vaccinated.
That’d have to be viewed as a win for all concerned.
“The vaccine, I believe, maybe made the symptoms in my specific case less. I think that’s also the case from what I’ve heard from our other players,” said Vrabel, still quarantining at home Thursday while awaiting a negative test. “So it is important, because there is no fail-safe. We’ve proven that.
“All we can try to do is maximize our ability to stay safe — to function as a team, to keep our families safe, to do our jobs and do them well.”
Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel walks the field before an NFL preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021 in Tampa, Fla.
In a way, that’s true for all of us.
No, the vaccines aren’t a fail-safe. But if we can’t rely on their effectiveness in order to function, what can we lean on to prevent COVID-19 from disrupting our lives and keeping us from normalcy and simple luxuries like going out to eat?
I went out to eat last week in Tampa while in town attending the Titans-Buccaneers joint practices.
Robinson went out to dinner in Tampa, too.
“I felt safer because I was vaccinated,” said Robinson. “I felt like I could go eat a meal because of what I have seen and the science that’s behind the vaccine. That if you do contract it and you’re vaccinated, it looks like the science has shown that you’re sick for a day or two and then you’re gonna get through that.”
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THIS AND THAT
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THE BEST ONE-YEAR DEALS
Gil Brandt of NFL.com sees some 1-year contracts that he thinks will be good for their teams:
With the 2021 NFL season around the corner, teams are arranging their depth charts and planning how to best incorporate the talent they have on hand. While draft picks and high-profile free agents garnered plenty of attention over the offseason, I thought I’d take a closer look at a subcategory of players that sometimes goes a bit under the radar, but which contains real contributors every season: those that are signed to one-year deals.
Below, you’ll find 12 players signed to one-year deals that I believe will pay off, with players thriving and providing their employers outstanding bang for the buck. To qualify, a player only had to be signed to a one-year deal that was not a franchise tag.
And, of course, a player’s exclusion here does not mean I think they will have a bad season. It merely means I don’t think they’ll provide the same kind of return relative to the cost of their contract as the players listed below.
Note: All contract values and rankings were sourced from Over the Cap.
1 Kyle Fuller
Denver Broncos · CB
Signed for: $9.5 million. Rank in annual average value among CBs: 19th.
Though Fuller’s being paid like a top-20 corner, his one-year pact could still end up being a tremendous value. The 29-year-old’s availability after being released by the Bears was a pleasant surprise for the Broncos, who added him even after signing Ronald Darby to a three-year, $30 million deal. Denver coach Vic Fangio should have a pretty good idea of how to get the most out of Fuller, with whom he worked in his tenure as Chicago’s defensive coordinator. Consider Fangio’s last season in that role was also one of the best of Fuller’s NFL tenure: In 2018, Fuller logged a career- and league-high seven picks and 21 passes defensed, earning both Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors.
2 Cam Newton
New England Patriots · QB
Signed for: $5.1 million. Rank in annual average among QBs: 35th.
If rookie Mac Jones manages to seize the No. 1 job before the regular season starts, then this blurb will be moot. But while Jones is showing promising signs of taking over under center relatively soon, and Newton’s recent absence from the team due to a mix-up over COVID-19 testing protocols was certainly a setback, I believe Newton will still ultimately be given the first chance to lead the offense. And, while I’ll admit this ranking is a bit bullish, I’m optimistic the former MVP will rebound from a lackluster 2020 in his second season in coordinator Josh McDaniels’ offense, with a far better supporting cast than he had last season. The cost of his one-year pact will be well worth it if Newton can orchestrate a revival in 2021, even if he does manage to boost his pay via incentives.
3 Jason Verrett
San Francisco 49ers · DB
Signed for: $5.5 million. Rank in annual average among CBs: 31st.
The early portion of Verrett’s career included flashes of promise clouded by injury — from 2014 to ’19, he appeared in just 26 games. But the former first-round pick rebounded in 2020, making 13 starts and earning Pro Football Focus’ sixth-best defensive grade among cornerbacks with 800-plus snaps. He was easily the 49ers’ best CB in 2020; in fact, using that same 800-snap qualifier, only Fred Warner finished with a better defensive grade in San Francisco last season. Verrett’s always had outstanding coverage skills. If he can stay healthy for a second consecutive season, he can play a big role in helping the team jump back into the realm of NFC contenders.
4 Eric Fisher
Indianapolis Colts · OT
Signed for: $8.38 million. Rank in annual average among OTs: 28th.
It was surprising to see Fisher released by the same team that made him the NFL’s No. 1 overall draft pick in 2013. Fisher, who since signed with the Colts, is coming off a torn Achilles suffered in the AFC title game. But once he returns, it shouldn’t take long for him to prove he’s still one of the league’s best left tackles on a team that could really use the help.
5 Charles Leno Jr.
Washington Football Team · OT
Signed for: $4 million. Rank in annual average among OTs: 47th.
The Bears’ front office should be kicking itself. After the second-round selection of tackle prospect Teven Jenkins, Chicago released Leno — only to learn later Jenkins needed back surgery that could threaten his availability this season. Jenkins’ projected shift from right tackle to the left side was considered a gamble to begin with. The Bears’ decision to part ways with Leno worked out for The Football Team, though. The 29-year-old Leno is a former Pro Bowler, even if he only made the team once so far (in 2018), and his offensive grade from PFF landed him in the top 20 (tied for 17th) among tackles with 1,000-plus snaps last season. Washington should rest easy with Leno protecting Ryan Fitzpatrick’s blindside.
6 Morgan Moses
New York Jets · OT
Signed for: $3.6 million. Rank in annual average among OTs: 48th.
Shortly after signing Leno, Washington said goodbye to its own solid veteran, releasing Moses, with second-round pick Sam Cosmi lined up to play right tackle. However, like Leno, the 30-year-old Moses has a healthy amount of tread left on the tires. And he’ll have a chance to be plenty helpful on a Jets offensive line tasked with giving rookie quarterback Zach Wilson the protection he needs while learning the NFL ropes.
7 A.J. Green
Arizona Cardinals · WR
Signed for: $6 million. Rank in annual average among WRs: T-35th
For a list like this, I would not normally select a 33-year-old receiver with a recent history of declining production (since 2017, when he last hit the 1,000-yard mark, Green has averaged 48.7 receiving yards per game; he averaged 80.5 in his first seven seasons). But a healthy and rejuvenated Green has been drawing rave reviews in Cardinals camp. The seven-time Pro Bowler might not hit the statistical heights he used to routinely reach earlier in his career, but he should play an important role in Arizona, not least because of his ability to help draw defensive attention away from DeAndre Hopkins.
8 Riley Reiff
Cincinnati Bengals · OT
Signed for: $7.5 million. Rank in annual average among OTs: 32nd.
By choosing receiver Ja’Marr Chase over top-rated tackle prospect Penei Sewell with the No. 5 overall pick, Cincinnati was also betting that Reiff and left tackle Jonah Williams will be able to protect the outside edge for quarterback Joe Burrow’s second NFL season. Reiff has spent all but one of his nine NFL seasons thus far at left tackle, switching to the right side only for the 2016 campaign, with Detroit. But he has nonetheless been a model of consistency throughout his nine-year career — only 16 players have recorded 4,000-plus pass-blocking snaps since 2012, when he entered the league as a first-round pick, and his 32 sacks allowed in that span places him smack in the middle (No. 8) among that group, per PFF. He’ll also provide insurance at left tackle in case Williams (who has appeared in 10 games since being drafted in the first round in 2019) is injured.
9 Sammy Watkins
Baltimore Ravens · WR
Signed for: $5 million. Rank in annual average among WRs: T-40th.
If he can stay healthy — and that’s a big if for a player who has played only one 16-game season in his seven-year career thus far, and who has missed time in camp this year — Watkins should be the No. 1 receiving target for Lamar Jackson as the Ravens try to improve a passing attack that ranked 32nd in 2020. Watkins’ catch rate above expectation (-2.9%) in 2020 ranked last among Chiefs receivers with 30-plus targets, but it would have slotted him easily above last year’s top Baltimore receiver, Marquise Brown (-4.7%). After putting in three seasons of top-notch support work in Kansas City, Watkins is in position to shine with Jackson in Baltimore.
10 Ndamukong Suh
Tampa Bay Buccaneers · NT
Signed for: $9 million. Rank in annual average among interior DLs: T-19th.
Suh helped carry the interior of the Bucs’ defensive line during last season’s Super Bowl-winning campaign, especially after Vita Vea was sidelined with a leg injury in Week 5. Though he is 34, Suh remains a force on what should be one of the NFL’s top defenses in 2021. Not only did he top the five-sack mark for the first time since 2016 (when, as in 2020, he finished with 6.0 sacks), but Suh also finished with 30 pressures, 12th-most among interior defensive linemen, per Next Gen Stats. Like fellow veterans Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown and Leonard Fournette, Suh’s decision to return on a relatively low-commitment deal was key to keeping the band together for Tampa’s title defense.
11 Ryan Fitzpatrick
Washington Football Team · QB
Signed for: $10 million. Rank in annual average among QBs: T-19th.
Fitzpatrick is the only player in NFL history who has thrown a touchdown pass for eight different teams — and he’s about to make it nine in Washington. In the short term, the 38-year-old will help stretch opposing defenses with his willingness to go deep; ideally, he’ll help ensure the offense can keep pace with (or at least not drag down) a defense that ranked second overall and fourth in points allowed. In the long term, Fitzpatrick’s presence will buy the franchise time to assess whether Taylor Heinicke is the QB of the future or if the position will have to be addressed in 2022.
12 Patrick Peterson
Minnesota Vikings · CB
Signed for: $8 million. Rank in annual average among CBs: 24th.
Peterson is no longer an elite shutdown defender — but he’s still good enough to fill the CB1 role that 2020 first-round pick Jeff Gladney was expected to assume before Gladney’s indictment on a felony domestic violence charge led to his release. With Gladney gone, Peterson is the only cornerback on the roster who played in 1,000-plus snaps last season (no one else even came close). He is accomplished (with eight Pro Bowls on his resume) and motivated, and it would not be a surprise if he helped lead a defensive renaissance in Minnesota while mounting a comeback of his own.
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BROADCAST NEWS
Philip Rivers is undefeated and unscored upon. ESPN.com:
Former quarterback Philip Rivers is eighth all time with 134 regular-season NFL wins, but the one he earned on Thursday might hold a special place in his heart.
Rivers, who retired after last season, is now 1-0 as a high school football coach in his native Alabama.
The eight-time Pro Bowler led the St. Michael Catholic Cardinals to a 49-0 victory (over McIntosh) on a night he described as being “special.”
“It’s the process that makes it awesome,” Rivers said after the win. “Tonight was special. Shoot, I’m looking over and Dad’s standing on the track, Mom’s in the stands, my boys are spotting the ball, my brother is here coaching … it was that kind of night.”
Rivers was hired as the team’s coach in 2020, with the plan in place for him to take over the program whenever his playing days were over. After 16 seasons with the Chargers and one with the Indianapolis Colts, that time came for Rivers in 2021.
Rivers is following in his father’s footsteps as a high school coach. Steve Rivers coached his son at Athens (Ala.) High School, where Philip was an all-state QB before going on to play at NC State. Philip Rivers has said he hopes to coach his two sons in high school someday, but earlier this month he left the door open to a potential return to the NFL.
“I have not completely ruled that out,” Rivers told the Los Angeles Times of possibly making a late-season return to the NFL, noting that he’s staying in shape in case a situation presents itself.
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