AROUND THE NFL
Daily Briefing
| NFC EAST |
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WASHINGTON
Former employees of the WFT who feel abused and aggrieved are disputing the NFL’s contention that they wanted utter secrecy about their complaints. John Keim of ESPN.com:
The attorneys for some former Washington Football Team employees rejected NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s reasoning for not making the investigation into the organization public, saying in a letter that their clients wanted anonymity but also a written report.
Goodell had said in a news conference at the league meetings Tuesday that they did not release a written report into the nearly year-long investigation of the organization and owner Dan Snyder because some who were interviewed wanted anonymity and therefore no public report.
In a two-page letter to Goodell, Lisa Banks and Debra Katz stated that their clients — they represent 40 women who made allegations of sexual harassment while working for Washington — wanted only protection. They wanted the findings released.
The letter stated, “While many who came forward feared retaliation by Dan Snyder, and therefore requested their names be kept confidential, they never envisioned that all their efforts and the efforts of Beth Wilkinson and her team would result in no written report of findings, and no real accountability for Dan Snyder or the WFT. Had they known this, they would not have participated.”
Beth Wilkinson provided a verbal report to the NFL of her findings. There were 150 people interviewed during the investigation. The NFL fined Washington $10 million for its toxic workplace culture; Snyder said at the time that he would step aside from day-to-day operations of the franchise in favor of his wife, Tanya.
Banks and Katz wrote that Goodell “misrepresented the wishes of our clients, and likely those of the other women and men who came forward, to justify your decision to bury what we know would be a damning report.”
They once more urged Goodell to release the findings. They said once that happens the public can determine whether the actions taken against the WFT were appropriate.
They wrote, “Your continued refusal to produce the findings of the investigation, ignoring the repeated pleas from those who put themselves at great risk to participate in this investigation, suggests strongly that it is not they who you are determined to protect.”
This from Andrew Brandt at SI.com:
As I have said often, the NFL is full of drama, intrigue and differing strategies to success. And, oh, by the way, there are games as well.
The games, as I often say, are just the storefront to the business of the NFL; and it’s there where the true action in this league happens. I take you behind the curtain of that intrigue and drama, and sometimes the picture I paint is not the curated one we see on television. It can be political, back-scratching and unseemly. “How the sausage is made” has been on full display the past couple of weeks, with an ongoing saga that appears to have 1) kept an important partner in his job, 2) buried a (now forever former) head coach, 3) protected some at the expense of that coach (and potentially others), and 4) drawn the (negative) attention of fans, media and, now, Congress.
Let’s examine.
Favored treatment in Washington
The origin of Jon Gruden’s emails’ surfacing stems generally from an investigation into sexual harassment claims and a toxic workplace environment in the Washington Football Team (WFT). That now-completed investigation 1) was overseen by the NFL and 2) was presented by the attorney handling it, Beth Wilkinson, in oral form only; there is no written documentation. And as to the discipline meted out to WFT owner Daniel Snyder at the end of that investigation? A nominal fine of $10 million and transfer of ownership operations from Snyder to his wife. The oral report and benign punishments were not only curious but continue a perception—fueled by further discovery of emails between former WFT president Bruce Allen and NFL general counsel Jeff Pash—that the team has received favorable treatment from the league.
Women working in Washington, it was reported, were told to wear tight dresses, and constantly felt pressured and intimidated by the working environment. Cheerleaders were put in compromising positions on junkets and other events even, reportedly, at the behest of the owner. Those women are not being served by the ousting of Gruden; they are pawns in some kind of political warfare.
With no written report of the WFT investigation’s findings, the emails actually emerged as part of litigation against Snyder where Allen was added to the litigation (by Snyder). Allen, who has his own litigation against Snyder—there are lots of lawyers—appeared to have been quite a prolific emailer.
While there is a lot about Allen revealed in this email trove, we have seen nothing about Snyder or any other NFL owners. And last week the team decided to honor the memory of the late Sean Taylor in a harried attempt to divert attention from the investigation. Even if that ceremony had been legitimately planned, the execution was poor. Through it all, the investigation and selective release of emails have ensnared only Gruden.
The NFL and WFT hope/expect that we will all turn to the next league drama, and they are usually right. (There is always a next drama. Remember Urban Meyer?) But now Congress has entered the picture, as the House Oversight Committee is wondering the same questions about a preferred investigation into Washington and a bigger issue with the brazen nature of the Gruden emails. The NFL can ignore the fans, the media and the lawyers (see the St. Louis case), but it cannot ignore Congress.
Further, investigative journalists at The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other places have not closed the book here. My sense is we are at the beginning, not the end, of whatever needs to be exposed here.
The Gruden sacrifice
I worked with Gruden at ESPN and, like many others, felt his infectious energy, enthusiasm and charisma, never seeing anything reflected in those repugnant emails. I have found some of those piling on Gruden to be disingenuous, with some saying they knew what a jerk Gruden was for years even though they never said anything that before last week.
After a first email leaked about DeMaurice Smith (more on that below), a slow drip of leaked emails continued until Gruden “resigned.” Someone, or some group of people, were going to continue to expose Gruden, doing whatever it took to get him out.
Gruden was sacrificed for the greater good. The greater good of whom and for what remain questions we would like to know.
Some have suggested that Gruden relinquished whatever was left on a reported $100 million contract—never believe numbers like that serving the agent’s agenda—by “resigning.” Well, no. Raiders owner Mark Davis—who coveted Gruden for years—did not want to fire him, telling reporters to “Ask the NFL!” when asked about the resignation. Yes, there will be lawyers about this contract, as I can envision claims against the Raiders, the NFL, the leaker or all of the above. Believe me, Jon Gruden is not walking away empty-handed from his contract.
NFLPA continuity
As mentioned above, the first email that exploded into the news was a racist one about NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith, appearing in the news the day before a reelection vote on Smith. (Full disclosure: I was approached about that position a couple of times, though not recently, and decided against it.) Smith needed 22 votes to retain his position and—one day after the leaked emails—received exactly, you guessed it, 22 votes.
Sure, the timing could have been a totally random coincidence and not meant to evoke at least one empathy vote to save Smith’s job. However, knowing the cutthroat nature of NFL business, it would not surprise me if the leaker(s) wanted to ensure that Smith—who has negotiated two decade-long CBAs that have served NFL ownership very well—kept his job.
It seems as if whoever leaked these selected emails wanted 1) DeMaurice Smith to keep his job, and/or 2) Jon Gruden to lose his job, and/or 3) coverage diverted from other behavior to Gruden’s behavior.
How the sausage is made
Beyond the focus on Gruden, the only other tranche of emails that has seen the light of day is a series of communications between Allen and Pash, the NFL’s top lawyer and one of the league’s most senior people. Full disclosure again: I have known Jeff for a long time and have always found him to be not only very bright but down to earth and easy to deal with, not something I would say about many in NFL senior management.
The communications show some favorable attitudes toward Allen, as well a Pash comment referring to lowering a player’s salary as “the Lord’s work.” While some have expressed astonishment, I am not surprised. That is how business is done in the NFL, not to mention almost any business.
Here is what I observed to be the reality of working for an NFL team: Every team thinks that the NFL league office treats other teams better than they treat them. In Green Bay, our paranoia stemmed from not having an owner, thus feeling treated “less than” by Park Avenue. Other teams, for one reason or another, felt the same. The NFL is and has always been very political; Snyder’s hiring of Allen reflected that.
Allen was a master politician, and a favorite of many in power in the NFL through his stints in Oakland, Tampa and Washington. His father (George) was a highly successful coach in Washington; his brother was the governor of Virginia and, while Bruce was in the league, a U.S. senator. Snyder hired Allen to leverage those relationships—with Capitol Hill and with the league office—for the ultimate gain of WFT. The communications with Pash show Allen doing exactly what he was hired to do: gain a slight edge over other teams with Park Avenue.
As to the Pash-Allen exchange about lowering a player’s pay: Again, that is the business that they are in. Management tries to keep collective labor costs down, allowing more flexibility with the roster and/or bringing more profit to the owner. Had it been an exchange between an agent about getting a player a better contract and a union representative responding “the Lord’s work,” that would also be in line with the business of football.
The Pash-Allen emails are not pretty, but that is how the sausage is made in the NFL, the seamy underbelly of how the business of football works.
Precedent
As a lawyer, everything, to me, is about precedent. And there are some dangerous precedents here.
There will eventually be more leaks of communications from the email-prolific Allen as we go forward. With Congress and others clamoring for more, it will now be hard to keep that Pandora’s box closed. And we will likely find out about other communications to and from Allen that are—or can be perceived as—racist or misogynistic or anti-LGBTQ, or include pictures of naked or topless women, etc. And now the precedent is that those communications mean termination of the sender. Now, are senders of similar communications—perhaps owners, coaches, executives of teams and/or the league, etc.—going to be fired? Are they going to be sacrificed publicly like Gruden?
Speaking of precedent, longtime NFL owner and power broker Jerry Richardson was forced into selling the Panthers in 2017 after a Sports Illustrated investigation into his improprieties with women in the workplace. While it is hard to compare degrees of sin, his reported behavior did not seem more egregious than what we heard in the WFT workplace. Yet Snyder remains in control of the team. This saga raises the question: Is the previous discipline to Snyder—a $10 million fine and turning over operations to his wife—going to be the final word? Will the Richardson precedent come into play?
The leak of the Gruden emails feels like the tip of a dangerous iceberg here. The NFL and WFT will continue to try to divert our attention away from a look inside a cold-hearted and political big business, one that is much more public than most. But good luck with that.
Whoever is behind the leaks successfully buried Gruden, but was short-sighted if they thought the focus would end with him.
And this Brandt tweet:
@AndrewBrandt
I grew up a diehard Washington fan. But lost my fandom when my friend went to pick up daughters at Daniel Snyder’s house; they were at play date with Snyder’s daughters.
My friend: “Thanks for having my girls over, Dan.”
“It’s Mr. Snyder.”
Who does that?
And there is more. Former NFL DT Brandon Noble chips in:
@BNoble75
Here’s a good one. I get MRSA, might lose a leg, maybe more. WFT doc refuses to treat me (another story) About to roll into operating room, Dan & Coach Gibbs show up. Dressed in tuxedos, post black tie event. Coach asks how I’m doing, Dan asks if I’m gonna sue them.
And this:
@brandongolden11
This echoes all the similar stories I heard while living in the DMV. Had a landscaping client who worked at the Snyder residence. One of his employees said “good morning” to Mrs. Snyder. The next morning, my client was instructed to fire that employee or lose the project. |
| NFC SOUTH |
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NEW ORLEANS
RB MARK INGRAM has circled back to New Orleans. Amie Just of NoLa.com:
Boom and Zoom are back in business in New Orleans, as the Saints are reuniting with running back Mark Ingram, a source confirmed to the Times-Picayune.
Ingram all but confirmed the news himself Wednesday afternoon, tweeting out the fleur-de-lis emoji while quote-tweeting Alvin Kamara — his on- and off-the-field tag team partner.
Terms of New Orleans’ trade with the Houston Texans have not been finalized, but the the deal likely will involve future late-round draft picks and, as always, hinges on a physical.
The Saints drafted Ingram in the first round in 2011, and he played in New Orleans for eight seasons. While he was with the Saints, Ingram earned two Pro Bowl nods and tallied more than 6,000 yards rushing and 50 rushing touchdowns. He also added more than 1,500 yards receiving.
Ingram’s 6,007 yards rushing for the Saints rank No. 2 in franchise history, sitting behind Deuce McAllister’s 6,096. With Ingram back in a Saints uniform, he needs only 90 yards to break McAllister’s franchise record.
As McAllister said of his records Wednesday on Twitter, “They will all be broken at some point. Love to the gents that do so.”
In 2017, Ingram and Kamara were the textbook definition of a dynamic duo. Kamara reached 1,554 yards from scrimmage and Ingram hit 1,540 yards from scrimmage, as they became the first running back tandem to each eclipse the 1,500-yard mark during a season in NFL history. Both also made the initial Pro Bowl roster that year, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished by two running backs from the same team in more than 40 years.
The next season was a down year for Ingram when he tallied just 815 yards from scrimmage after he missed the first four games of the year due to a suspension. He rallied to piece together two 100-plus-yard rushing games.
Several Saints players took to Twitter in celebration of the news, with Kamara — the Zoom to Ingram’s Boom, or vice versa, depending on who you ask — saying, “we back” with an additional sanitized expletive. Defensive end Cameron Jordan, who hosts a podcast with Ingram, posted a GIF of him dancing. Kicker Wil Lutz tweeted “Let’s goooo” with a half-dozen exclamation points, and left tackle Terron Armstead posted a picture of the two of them together.
Ingram, 31, has 7,618 career yards rushing with 63 rushing scores. He’s close to eclipsing the 2,000-yard mark for his career in receiving as well.
The move makes plenty of sense for New Orleans. Kamara has contributed the lion’s share of the Saints offense, while depth at the running back position is thin.
Behind Kamara, the Saints have Devine Ozigbo and Dwayne Washington. Washington is currently hurt with a neck injury and missed Monday’s game against Seattle. In Washington’s place, the Saints moved receiver Ty Montgomery to running back for the game and during practice leading up to the game.
The Saints let veterans Latavius Murray and Devonta Freeman go around the time of roster cuts, and backup running back Tony Jones Jr. is currently on injured reserve.
It is unlikely that safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson will part ways with the No. 22 jersey that Ingram wore for six seasons. However, No. 28 — the number Ingram wore in 2011 and 2012 — could be finagled from Ozigbo. The number Ingram currently wears for the Texans, No. 2, is worn by quarterback Jameis Winston.
This is not the first time the Saints have brought back a player for a second stint. It’s not even the first time this season in which they’ve done that.
Earlier this year, the Saints re-signed receiver Kenny Stills after he spent six seasons away, and re-signed Ozigbo after he was with Jacksonville for two seasons.
Some other offensive players they’ve had for multiple stints in recent years include guard Jahri Evans, guard Jermon Bushrod, receiver Robert Meachem, quarterback Chase Daniel, running back Travaris Cadet and receiver Tommylee Lewis. Defensively, they brought back safety Malcolm Jenkins during free agency last year. They’ve also reunited with cornerback Patrick Robinson and safety Roman Harper, to name a few.
Look for Ingram in action this week vs. Tampa Bay. Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:
Running back Mark Ingram won’t practice with the Saints until Friday, but it doesn’t sound like that’s going to keep head coach Sean Payton from putting him on the field against the Buccaneers this Sunday.
The Saints agreed to a deal with the Texans to bring Ingram back to the team that made him a first-round draft pick in 2011 and he said on Thursday that there’s a “high chance” that he’ll make his second debut with the team this weekend. Payton also shared how he and General Manager Mickey Loomis came to make a play for the veteran back.
“Mickey and I talked about it in Seattle and we felt like it was worth calling, just kind of poking around,” Payton said, via John Hendrix of SI.com. “Once that momentum began, I was still somewhat skeptical, just relative to the role he was playing for them.”
The Saints haven’t had a real complement to Alvin Kamara in the backfield since Tony Jones was injured earlier this month. Ingram’s arrival will change that and the Saints will be hoping that the partnership can bear some of the same fruit it did in Kamara’s first two NFL season. |
| NFC WEST |
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ARIZONA
Sad news for Cardinals fans. Grant Gordon of NFL.com:
J.J. Watt was ruled out Wednesday for Thursday’s night’s game. It turns out Watt is likely to be gone for far longer than just Week 8.
The Arizona Cardinals defensive end is set to undergo shoulder surgery that could potentially end his season, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday night.
Watt’s surgery is likely to require at least three months of recovery, Rapoport reported, and will end his 2021 regular season.
During the Cardinals’ Week 7 win against his former team, the Houston Texans, Watt played the second half despite the shoulder injury. Now, Watt will solicit medical opinions before having surgery as soon as possible, Rapoport reported. Thereafter, he’ll begin the rehab process. There’s a chance Watt could return for a Cardinals postseason run, but Rapoport characterized it as a “long shot.”
Watt, a three-time AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year, has 16 tackles, a sack and 10 quarterback hits in seven starts with Arizona this season. Though those stats might not jump off the page, he’s been a driving force in the Cardinals’ defensive improvement. Heading into Thursday night’s game against the visiting Packers, the Cardinals boast the No. 4 overall defense in the NFL and the No. 1 scoring defense.
Watt didn’t practice Monday through Wednesday this week and was ruled out for Thursday’s game on Wednesday afternoon. Hours later, news broke of his impending surgery.
Thursday night will mark Watt’s first absence from Arizona’s starting lineup since joining the Cardinals this season and just when he’ll return is a great unknown.
Though Rapoport reports this is a new injury, dealing with and coming back from injuries is nothing new for Watt.
The Cardinals have a 99% chance of making the playoffs per most outlets that figure such things. Watt must hope that he can get back in time to play in the postseason and win his first Super Bowl ring. |
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LOS ANGELES RAMS
Mike Florio focuses on reports that Stan Kroenke wants to pay St. Louis close to a billion dollars – and St. Louis thinks their jury will award even more at trial.
The article from Seth Wickersham of ESPN.com detailing Tuesday’s meeting among owners regarding the possibility that Rams owner Stan Kroenke will renege on his commitment to pay the full bill for the case includes two paragraphs that justify significant attention and scrutiny.
As Wickersham explains it, the discussion included an exchange between NFL general counsel Jeff Pash and Cowboys owner (and Kroenke supporter) Jerry Jones regarding potential settlement of the case.
Jones asked Pash if Kroenke had tried to settle the case. Pash said that Kroenke has tried.
Here’s the key portion of Wickersham’s article, regarding what came next: “Jones indicated that Kroenke’s settlement figure was billions of dollars. Pash refused to confirm the figure — a source with direct knowledge of the situation told ESPN it was less than a billion — but told those in the meeting that it was more than the net worth of some in the room.”
It’s not entirely clear whether that’s the amount the St. Louis plaintiffs had demanded, the amount Kroenke already had offered, or the amount Kroenke would be willing to pay. Whatever it is, it shows that the owners are taking the situation seriously, that they realize the final outcome could be financially devastating for the league.
That’s probably why Kroenke is looking for a loophole in his indemnity agreement. And it’s why the league already has contemplated the possibility of offering St. Louis an expansion franchise in order to make everything go away.
It’s also why everyone should be paying close attention to this one. St. Louis has the NFL on the run, and it’s bad enough that the NFL owners seem to be heading for a fight regarding who will foot the eventual bill. |
| AFC WEST |
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DENVER
QB TEDDY BRIDGEWATER is not panicking, but he can see the time coming that he will. Kevin Patra of NFL.com:
After a 3-0 start to the season, the Denver Broncos have lost four straight games to tumble out of playoff positioning as the NFL nears the midway point of the season.
Despite the recent struggles, which includes an offense that’s scored just 16 points per game and a defense allowing 25.3 points per game over the past four tilts, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater says there is no panic in the locker room.
“It’s definitely a locker room that’s still together,” the QB said Wednesday. “You can sense there’s no panic. I said this to the guys yesterday, ‘We’ve got to have a sense of urgency.’ You know, it’s not time to panic, but it almost is. This thing can go in the wrong direction fast. But I think if we have that sense of urgency and we go out there with the right mindset. It starts in practice, if we practice with the right mindset, we make this a competitive environment, we can turn this thing around.”
The Broncos’ 3-0 start came against teams currently sporting losing records (2-5 Giants, 1-5 Jaguars, 1-5 Jets). Their current four-game losing streak has come against teams with .500 or better records (5-2 Ravens, 3-3 Steelers, 5-2 Raiders, 4-3 Browns).
After posting a 100-plus passer rating in each of his first three games, Bridgewater has failed to reach that mark the last four weeks — zero giveaways in Weeks 1-3; six giveaways since Week 4.
On Sunday, Denver faces a Washington team that is struggling on defense, allowing 30 points per game (most in the NFL) and one of two clubs (Texans) to allow 20-plus points in seven games this season.
For Bridgewater, if the Broncos can win Sunday, they have a chance to overcome the recent stumbles and salvage the season.
“We’re sitting at 3-4 — if you look at it, we’ve played 10 games, three preseason games, seven regular-season games — so we’re right at the halfway point, and we’re not in a bad position. We’d like to be in a better position, but that’s on us,” he said. “So all we can do is control what’s in front of us. We can’t go back and fix what happened in the past. If we have that right mindset that we have so many more opportunities, the past won’t even matter.” |
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LAS VEGAS
Owner Mark Davis elaborates on what he contends is that latest in a decades-long line of the NFL treating the Raiders poorly with the handling of the private Jon Gruden emails. NFL.com:
Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis expressed his displeasure Wednesday with the timing of when he learned of Jon Gruden’s emails, which led to Gruden’s resignation as head coach Oct. 11.
Davis, speaking at the conclusion of the Fall League Meeting in New York, alleged that the NFL “may have known” about Gruden’s emails “months beforehand.”
“It’s a timing issue,” Davis said. “That’s probably the disappointment that I had. … Well, the fact that they may have known about it a couple of months beforehand and didn’t let us know about that. We weren’t informed until, I guess it was that Thursday (Oct. 7), and we heard it from The Wall Street Journal initially. It was a rumor initially, they wouldn’t give us the email at the time, The Wall Street Journal wouldn’t. We spoke to the league later on that afternoon and by Friday (Oct. 8), they started giving us all the information, I spoke with the Commissioner and those things. But I believed if we’d have gotten the information earlier in the summer when they learned about it, it would’ve been a lot easier for everyone involved.”
Davis was asked if he believes his team had been treated unfairly.
“No, I’m not gonna get into any of that,” he said. “We’re Raiders. We’re used to this. That’s just what our life is about. It is disappointing, just the whole thing with Jon, you know. It’s just life.”
Gruden abruptly resigned as head coach following the publication of emails in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times detailing the use of racist, homophobic and misogynistic terms reportedly dating back to 2010.
“I’ve never seen Jon exhibit any of those things in practice with the Raiders,” Davis said. “He’s no longer the coach of the Raiders. It’s something that had to be done. It didn’t represent what the Raiders stand for.”
NFL Network’s Judy Battista reported earlier this month that Gruden’s emails were exposed as a byproduct of the investigation into the Washington Football Team’s workplace misconduct. Gruden’s emails were exchanged with former Washington executive Bruce Allen, who used his company email address. Battista reported that at the conclusion of the investigation the league was told it should review 650,000 emails the law firm had uncovered. A team of executives spent a few months doing so, per Battista, and presented the findings to Goodell in early October.
Davis was asked how he felt that his organization became embroiled in controversy as a result of an investigation into another franchise.
“I can’t get into that because the only thing we’ve seen so far is the emails that Jon had and we haven’t seen any of the others and anything else,” Davis said. “So that’s basically again what I said initially was ask the NFL. They’ve got all the answers. We really don’t.”
The investigation into the Washington Football Team, led by independent counsel Beth Wilkinson, resulted in a $10 million fine, and owner Daniel Snyder ceasing to be involved in day-to-day operations with the team. Tanya Snyder, his wife, has taken over indefinitely in his place.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters Tuesday that he believes the Washington organization and Daniel Snyder have been held accountable, and reiterated that a full report into the findings from the investigation will not be made public in order to protect the anonymity of those who came forward.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters Wednesday that he was “very satisfied” with how the league has handled the investigation.
Davis declined to comment on specifics of the punishments levied against the Washington Football Team and Snyder, but he did indicate that he would be in favor of seeing a written report.
“Yeah. Probably,” Davis said, “especially with some of the things that were charged.”
Davis also had something to say about the departures this summer of some of his minions. Vic Tafur of The Athletic:
Davis, wearing a Raiders jacket and a backpack, also revealed during an 11-minute session with reporters that former Raiders president Marc Badain was let go in July due to “accounting irregularities” that also cost the team’s chief financial officer, Ed Villanueva, and controller, Araxie Grant, their jobs.
– – –
The Raiders also don’t stand for accounting mistakes, as Davis’ lawyers finally gave him the go-ahead to discuss Badain’s sudden departure in July.
“I think it’s pretty much clear now, or I don’t know if it is clear now, but it was pretty much accounting irregularities,” Davis said. “That’s why the CFO left, the controller left and the president left, that’s what it was. … I will say it wasn’t not paying enough taxes — we overpaid our taxes, that’s one of the good things about it.”
Davis added that “it may have started in Oakland,” and that Badain’s resignation in July “might be fairly characterized” as a forced one.
As far as current employment, Davis said that Rich Bisaccia is doing a great job as interim coach and no coaching search has started for next season.
On general manager Mike Mayock, Davis said, “I am not going to speak to the future, but right now he is the general manager of the Raiders and there is no reason he shouldn’t be in the future.”
And there is also word that Jon Gruden has reached a settlement on the massive contract he seemed to walk away from. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:
Although Raiders coach Jon Gruden technically resigned, the resignation undoubtedly came under threat of termination, if he didn’t choose to leave voluntarily. Unresolved when he abruptly walked away was the balance of his reported 10-year, $100 million contract.
Via Vic Tafur of TheAthletic.com, owner Mark Davis said Wednesday that a settlement has been reached.
Gruden reportedly had $40 million in remaining guaranteed payments. PFT had reported when Gruden signed the contract that it was not fully guaranteed, and potentially backloaded.
The release of claims that Gruden signed in order to get his money likely extends broadly enough to cover the league, especially since the Raiders represent 1/32nd of it. If so, that would prevent Gruden from suing the league for intentional interference with his relationship with the Raiders.
“He’s hurt, he’s really hurt, and I understand that,” Davis said regarding Gruden. “But he understands the ramifications of what he said. I love Jon and I love his family. We all have demons in our lives, and you have to understand that, and you also have to look at redemption as well.”
Gruden’s redemption likely won’t come in the form of a return to coaching in the NFL. And he probably won’t be interested in something like the reconstituted XFL. His future could come in the form of providing NFL content for one of the various sports books, which are trying to get into the sports content business in order to gather a pool of visitors who then can potentially become customers. They’re throwing huge money around, and Gruden possibly could make the same $10 million per year from a gambling company that he was making from the Raiders. |
| AFC NORTH |
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BALTIMORE
We are told that the Ravens have signed an OT who went in the first round, not that we remember CEDRIC OGBUEHI:
The Ravens have signed offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi to the practice squad after he was released by the Seattle Seahawks on Monday.
A 2015 first-round pick by the Cincinnati Bengals, Ogbuehi has played both right and left tackle during his career. He started one game at right tackle for the Seahawks this season (Week 4) in place of injured starter Brandon Shell.
In 2020, Ogbuehi played eight games and made four starts for the Seahawks at right tackle and earned a solid 65.5 grade from Pro Football Focus.
The Ravens lost starting right tackle Patrick Mekari to an ankle injury during Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals and Head Coach John Harbaugh has not given a timetable for Mekari’s return. He is reportedly dealing with a high ankle sprain.
Tyre Phillips replaced Mekari at right tackle and is expected to continue in a starting role during Mekari’s absence, but Ogbuehi is an experienced player who can add to Baltimore’s depth. Drafted out of Texas A&M as the 21st-[add]overall pick, Ogbuehi made 25 starts in four seasons with the Bengals (2015-18) and spent the 2019 season with the Jacksonville Jaguars before joining Seattle in 2020. |
| AFC EAST |
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MIAMI
QB TUA TAGOVAILOA does not feel unloved. Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN.com:
Amid reports of the Dolphins’ interest in trading for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, current starter Tua Tagovailoa was asked whether he felt wanted by the team.
He smiled while he answered.
“I don’t not feel wanted,” he said. “That’s what I could say.”
Tagovailoa, a second-year quarterback, has played the best two-game stretch of his career over the past two weeks, completing 75% of his passes for 620 yards and six touchdowns against three interceptions in a pair of losses for the 1-6 Dolphins. Despite his play, Miami continues to be named in reports as Watson’s preferred destination should the Texans trade him before the Nov. 2 deadline.
Following Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Tagovailoa said he and coach Brian Flores had conversations about the reports and that Flores said he reaffirmed Tagovailoa’s status as Miami’s starting quarterback.
Beyond that, Tagovailoa said he largely ignores any outside noise.
“I really don’t think about it,” he said. “The only time I’m really hearing about it, like I’ve said before, is if [the communications staff] is kind of telling me what’s going on within the rumors or if my agent calls me. That’s really when I hear it. Other than that, I don’t really hear it.”
Tagovailoa said he doesn’t “have any control over” whether Flores or general manager Chris Grier will definitively put a stop to any trade rumors. He said he’s focused on the Dolphins’ upcoming game against the Buffalo Bills and that, in fact, he doesn’t even know when the trade deadline is.
Tagovailoa declined to divulge what exactly his conversations with Flores entailed but did say he came away confident in his place on the team.
“Honestly, I don’t base my emotions off of who says anything about me or who is saying what,” he said. “All I can do is my job and do it to the best of my capabilities. Everything else, I mean it’s out of my control. But I have the utmost confidence and trust that I am the quarterback of this team, just off of conversations that I’ve had with Flo and whatnot.
“That obviously stays between us. But yeah, I feel very confident that I’m the person.” |
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NEW YORK JETS
Someone named QB MIKE WHITE is a starting QB in the NFL. Rich Cimini of ESPN.com:
Mike White will make his first NFL start Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets coach Robert Saleh confirmed Wednesday. The status of their newest backup, Joe Flacco, is uncertain.
Flacco, acquired Monday in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, wasn’t at practice Wednesday. He was excused for a personal reason, won’t report to the facility until Friday and might be inactive for Sunday’s game. He’s participating in meetings virtually, according to the Jets, who said they knew about Flacco’s personal issue when the trade was made.
It has been an eventful few days for the reeling Jets (1-5), from Zach Wilson’s knee injury to the Flacco trade to the questions regarding Flacco’s absence. The only certainty is that White, a former practice-squad player, will face the Bengals (5-2) at MetLife Stadium.
“Mike has done a hell of a job and he has earned his right to play on Sunday and show what he’s capable of,” said Saleh, who nevertheless wouldn’t commit to White beyond this week.
Wilson is expected to miss two to four weeks with a sprained PCL.
White, who made his regular-season debut in Sunday’s 54-13 loss to the New England Patriots, received strong praise from Saleh on Monday. But a few hours later, the Jets traded a 2022 conditional sixth-round pick for Flacco, raising questions about their immediate plan.
A source said they brought in Flacco, 36, to be a backup, the role he held last season with the Jets. Still, the timing was curious, considering they had decided a few months ago to go without a seasoned backup. They said journeyman Josh Johnson, 35, on the practice squad, would provide experience in the quarterback room, mentoring Wilson and White. They apparently had second thoughts. Because of Flacco’s late arrival, the Jets might have little choice but to activate Johnson to be the backup on Sunday. Saleh sent a mixed message.
White is not a “rookie” in that he completed a college career split between USF and Western Kentucky in 2017. He was a 5th round draftee of the Cowboys in 2018 and spent that season as the third stringer. He has been with the Jets in ’19 and ’20, mainly on the practice squad.
So after being on the bench or practice squad for 54 NFL games, he made his debut last week when QB ZACH WILSON was injured. It’s not a promising path, but it is similar to the one followed by Tony Romo.
Romo took his first NFL snap at QB (he had held for placekicks) in Week 6 of 2006, his fourth season out of another geography school, Eastern Illinois.
Mike White took his first NFL snap at QB in Week 6 of 2021, his fourth season out of Western Kentucky. |
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THIS AND THAT |
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PLAYOFF CHANCES
The New York Times, in an effort that requires the bylines of Josh Katz, Kevin Quealy and Rumsey Taylor, has a nice page with playoff chances, apparently generated by a computer program (on the actual page it has pretty graphics):
AFC
East playoffs div bye sb
Bills 4-2 89% 84% 16% 9%
Patriots 3-4 32% 14% 1% 1%
Jets 1-5 2% 1% <1% <1%
Dolphins 1-6 2% 1% <1% <1%
North
Bengals 5-2 79% 43% 18% 6%
Ravens 5-2 79% 33% 14% 6%
Browns 4-3 52% 18% 4% 3%
Steelers 3-3 31% 6% 2% 1%
South
Titans 5-2 92% 85% 22% 8%
Colts 3-4 37% 14% 1% 2%
Jaguars 1-5 2% 1% <1% <1%
Texans 1-6 1% 1% <1% <1%
West
Chargers 4-2 74% 46% 12% 5%
Raiders 5-2 72% 37% 11% 4%
Chiefs 3-4 34% 12% 1% 2%
Broncos 3-4 19% 6% <1% 1%
NFC
East playoffs div bye sb
Cowboys 5-1 94% 91% 8% 7%
Eagles 2-5 12% 3% <1% <1%
WFT 2-5 8% 4% <1% <1%
Giants 2-5 6% 2% <1% <1%
North
Packers 6-1 94% 83% 11% 7%
Vikings 3-3 46% 14% <1% 2%
Bears 3-4 18% 3% <1% <1%
Lions 0-7 <1% <1% <1% <1%
South
Bucs 6-1 97% 80% 21% 12%
Saints 4-2 69% 16% 2% 3%
Falcons 3-3 20% 2% <1% <1%
Panthers 3-4 12% 2% <1% <1%
West
Cardinals 7-0 99% 72% 41% 14%
Rams 6-1 96% 27% 15% 8%
49ers 2-4 17% <1% <1% <1%
Seahawks 2-5 12% <1% <1% <1%
Interesting that the 3-3 Vikings are 46% to make the playoffs and the 3-3 Falcons are just 20%.
Here is Minnesota’s remaining schedule. Subjectively, we put tough games in red, easy games in green and leave middling games in black.
8 Sun, Oct 31 Dallas
9 Sun, Nov 7 @ Baltimore
10 Sun, Nov 14 @ LA Chargers
11 Sun, Nov 21 Green Bay
12 Sun, Nov 28 @ San Francisco
13 Sun, Dec 5 @ Detroit
14 Thu, Dec 9 Pittsburgh
15 Mon, Dec 20 @ Chicago
16 Sun, Dec 26 LA Rams
17 Sun, Jan 2 @ Green Bay
18 Sun, Jan 9 Chicago
Six tough games, one easy, four coin flips
Now Atlanta:
8 Sun, Oct 31 Carolina
9 Sun, Nov 7 @ New Orleans
10 Sun, Nov 14 @ Dallas
11 Thu, Nov 18 New England
12 Sun, Nov 28 @ Jacksonville
13 Sun, Dec 5 Tampa Bay
14 Sun, Dec 12 @ Carolina
15 Sun, Dec 19 @ San Francisco
16 Sun, Dec 26 Detroit
17 Sun, Jan 2 @ Buffalo
18 Sun, Jan 9 New Orleans
Five tough games, two easy, four coin flips.
Hmmm. We even thought about making the two Carolina games as easy Atlanta.
Both teams have tough schedules, but you certainly can’t say that Minnesota’s is easier. Why are they 46% and the Falcons 20%? |
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