NFL News

[Cody_Russell]

Whoa, Texans are finally getting rid of Grima Wormtongue. Big move for their organization.

[LightninBoy]

Hit it!

Just a good ole boy
Never meaning no harm
Beats all you never saw
Been in trouble with the law
Since that the day they were born

[Futureshock]

Stan Kroenke will be stuck with the tab for the balance of the St. Louis settlement

Posted by Mike Florio on October 18, 2022, 10:48 AM EDT

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He won’t pay the full $790 million, but he’ll be paying most of it.

Seth Wickersham of ESPN.com reports that NFL owners are expected to approve a resolution that will compel Rams owner Stan Kroenke to pay the $571 million in unallocated settlement proceeds to St. Louis, resolving the litigation arising from the relocation of Kroenke’s team.

The league already has collected $219 million from all NFL franchises. Kroenke wanted his partners to share the full amount of the settlement. His position was bolstered by sloppy wording of the relevant paperwork, along with a belief that the efforts of the Chargers and Raiders to push a competing stadium project gave St. Louis the blueprint for suing the Rams and the league.

The headline to the ESPN.com item is a little confusing. It reads “NFL to OK Stan Kroenke $571M payment to St. Louis.” As if Kroenke wants to do it. He doesn’t. His partners are making him do it. It’s not a happy resolution for Kroenke.

For some owners, it’s also not a good outcome. They believe Kroenke should foot the entire bill.

Ultimately, they’re all responsible. They all disregarded the NFL’s relocation policy in order to justify taking a team away from St. Louis and dropping it in L.A. They’re all guilty of allowing Kroenke to get what he wanted, at the expense of St. Louis.

Would some or many or most of the owners who voted to approve the move have declined absent a clear commitment by Kroenke to foot the bill if/when things go sideways? Yes. Still, they voted to approve a move that they arguably shouldn’t have approved. They allowed a team to escape its home market not because the home market was bad, but because Kroenke saw another market that he thought was better.

So while Kroenke perhaps should be financially responsible for the most or all of the settlement, every owner who voted to approve the relocation of the Rams is responsible for the outcome.

[Futureshock]

Jerry Jones: I think Dak Prescott’s going to play this week

Posted by Josh Alper on October 18, 2022, 10:20 AM EDT

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Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said on Monday that it remains to be seen if quarterback Dak Prescott will return to action in this week’s game against the Lions, but there are plenty of signs that this is the week his thumb is well enough for him to play.

Prescott said he expects to play and head coach Mike McCarthy said that the quarterback is going to receive his final medical clearance ahead of practice on Wednesday, which sets him up for a full week of work before Sunday. During a Tuesday appearance on 105.3 The Fan, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones shared his belief that Prescott will be back under center this weekend.

“He’s determined to. From my perspective, I think he’s gonna get there,” Jones said, via Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com. “We feel like physically [he’s ready to return]. He’s going to be given every opportunity this week to go play. He looks ready to go.”

Prescott has missed five games since injuring his thumb against the Buccaneers in the season opener. The Cowboys won the first four of those games before losing to the Eagles in Week Six. Barring any new developments, it looks like Prescott will be the one trying to get them back on the winning path.

[JGSpartan]

He's not stupid, he doesn't want to miss a chance at the Lions defense.

[ghandi]

Alot of QBs get healthy quick with the Lions up next.....Dak knows the backup might throw for 500 yards against this defense and then he may never get his job back.

[JGSpartan]

There's no job security worry for Dak after that Eagles game. It wouldn't matter how Rush did against the Lions.

[Fraquar]

There's no job security worry for Dak after that Eagles game. It wouldn't matter how Rush did against the Lions.

The people that have been talking about the job security weren't concerned with Rush - it was Dak laying an egg against the CDD......

[JGSpartan]

The people that have been talking about the job security weren't concerned with Rush - it was Dak laying an egg against the CDD......

You could've just read the post before mine to see i was directly responding to someone talking about Rush throwing for 500 against the Lions and Dak losing his job.

[Futureshock]

Jerry Jones makes another run at blocking a Roger Goodell contract

Posted by Mike Florio on October 18, 2022, 10:08 PM EDT

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The ESPN headline focuses on a profane message from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to Patriots owner Robert Kraft. The far more important point is that, five years after Jones tried to keep Commissioner Roger Goodell from getting a new contract, Jones is at it again.

PFT has confirmed that the owners, by a vote of 31-1, concluded on Tuesday that the league’s compensation committee is authorized to negotiate a new deal with Goodell. Jones was the lone dissenter.

And Jones, via Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta, Jr. of ESPN.com, told Kraft, the chair of the compensation committee,”Don’t fuck with me.”

“Excuse me?” Kraft said.

“Don’t mess with me,” Jones said, modifying his language.

In 2017, Jones tried to block Goodell from getting a new deal. Jerry’s allies at the time included Washington owner Daniel Snyder and, of all people, Papa John.

As one source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT, Jones’s frustration likely comes from the fact that he’s not on the compensation committee, and due to the fact that no other owner joined him in opposing the measure. Per the source, Kraft wasn’t the only subject of Jones’s ire. Both Giants owner John Mara and Browns owner Jimmy Haslam caught some flak, too.

Last time around, it became a major fight, culminating in Jones threatening litigation and Jones ultimately paying for the legal fees incurred by the league in dealing with his threats. This time, it’s far less likely that Jones will die for a second time on the same hill.


What a lovely bunch of individuals

[Futureshock]

Roger Goodell: Deshaun Watson has complied with all terms of his suspension

Posted by Mike Florio on October 18, 2022, 9:20 PM EDT

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Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has missed six games. After five more, he’ll be able to return to action.

But it’s not simply a matter of missing the games. He also has to comply with the other terms imposed upon him by the league.

On Tuesday, Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters that Watson has complied to date with all requirements. They primarily relate to evaluation and treatment.

Last week, another lawsuit was commenced against Watson. More could still be filed. Although the league has said it will monitor the case, Watson’s camp will argue that he can’t be punished for any similar conduct happening before the date on which the settlement was reached.

Currently, Watson is due to return on Week 13, when the Browns visit the Texans.


Yes. Yes! I'm either in first or a close second in my FF leagues and I drafted Hopkins and Watson late (rounds 10 and 11) to push me through. It is all coming together. Ha!

[Futureshock]

Jeff Pash preempted ownership discussion of Daniel Snyder

Posted by Mike Florio on October 18, 2022, 9:05 PM EDT

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Publicly, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters that he wants the league’s owners to reserve judgment on Commanders owner Daniel Snyder until the pending Mary Jo White investigation is done. Privately, that message was sent to the owners by NFL general counsel Jeff Pash.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Pash slammed the door on any Snyder discussion during the owners-only session at Tuesday’s league meeting. It was, in the assessment of the source, the direct result of Colts owner Jim Irsay’s public comments regarding Snyder from this afternoon.

Pash urged the owners to exercise patience and restraint, explaining that they’d want the same treatment if they were facing a similar situation.

It’s a smart approach. With Snyder surely considering all legal options, anything said in that session would become discoverable evidence in court — even if they asked Tanya Snyder to exit the session so that the matter could be discussed without her there to hear whatever was said. If/when litigation happens, the owners would be grilled about who said what, to whom.

The source also predicted that, if Irsay hadn’t said what he said to reporters, he definitely would have made those comments in the room, sparking a Snyder-related conversation. The source believes that Irsay’s comments directly led to Pash’s effort to short-circuit any discussion of Snyder among the owners.

Last year, Pash became directly implicated in the aftermath of Beth Wilkinson’s investigation regarding Snyder, after someone leaked emails exchanged by Pash and former Commanders president Bruce Allen.

[Futureshock]

Von Miller doubles down on prediction Odell Beckham will sign with Bills

Posted by Charean Williams on October 18, 2022, 7:41 PM EDT

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Does Von Miller know something? Or is the Bills star edge rusher merely hoping to speak it into existence?

Miller has doubled down in his prediction that free agent receiver Odell Beckham Jr. will land in Buffalo.

“He’s coming here, man,” Miller told Jarrett Bell of USA Today Sports on Sunday. “He’s coming to the Bills.”

Beckham continues to rehab from the anterior cruciate ligament he tore in Super Bowl LVI. His decision is expected sometime in November.

The Rams were the favorites for Beckham until he recently suggested the Rams are lowballing him, and the Chiefs’ restructure of Travis Kelce‘s contract this week has raised a question about whether it was to make a play for Beckham.

Miller, who frequently talks to Beckham and played with him last season after the Broncos traded Miller to L.A., is putting on the hard sell.

“We could use another guy like that,” Miller told Bell.

Miller previously told Richard Sherman on Sherman’s podcast that Beckham would sign with the Bills.

“He’s coming to the Bills. He’s coming to the Bills,” Miller told Sherman. “It’s already said and done. He’s coming the Bills. We’re down a couple of receivers, man. . . . When it’s said and done, we know where Odell is going to be at man.”

[Futureshock]

Just throw him the ball, dwarf, and let me get my chee$e...
Kyler Murray happy DeAndre Hopkins is back but warns the WR is not a “miracle cure”

Posted by Charean Williams on October 18, 2022, 7:07 PM EDT

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The Cardinals offense has not played well this season, and neither has Kyler Murray. The Cardinals and their quarterback, though, are getting DeAndre Hopkins back this week.

The star receiver returned from his suspension, practicing for the first time since the preseason.

Murray wore a smile when asked about Hopkins’ return.

“His energy, man, it seems like every time you see him on the field . . . there is a reason why he’s the best,” Murray said, via Darren Urban of the team website.

Hopkins will make his 2022 debut on Thursday Night Football. He has not played since Week 14 of last season when he tore knee ligaments.

Murray warned, though, that Hopkins’ return is “not a miracle [cure] that everything is gone. We still have things we have to get better at, still things we need to fix.”

Hopkins returned to the building in Week 4, attending meetings, and he trained at EXOS in Tempe, Arizona, trying to stay in football condition as much as possible. He acknowledged that you can’t “simulate a football game outside of a football game.”

Still, he, Murray and the Cardinals are eager to get him back on the field, and he will play without restrictions Thursday, according to coach Kliff Kingsbury.

“One person can’t go out and win a game, but it does help having someone like myself out there who can dictate how defenses play us,” Hopkins said after practice. “Last year was a great example of that and me not having a game over 100 yards, a lot of people saw it of me having a down year. I look at it as a productive year because I got a lot of guys open. There are a lot of things that go into a football game more than just fantasy stats or yards.”

[Futureshock]

Daniel Snyder fires back at Jim Irsay

Posted by Mike Florio on October 18, 2022, 5:44 PM EDT

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Well, this is getting good.

Barely an hour after Colts owner Jim Irsay told reporters that the time possibly has come to remove Daniel Snyder as owner of the Commanders, the Commanders have responded.

“It is highly inappropriate, but not surprising, that Mr. Irsay opted to make statements publicly based on falsehoods in the media,” a Commanders spokesperson said, via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “It is unfortunate that Mr. Irsay decided to go public with his statement today, while an investigation is in process, and the team has had no opportunity to formally respond to allegations. The Commanders have made remarkable progress over the past two years. We are confident that, when he has an opportunity to see the actual evidence in this case, Mr. Irsay will conclude that there is no reason for the Snyders to consider selling the franchise. And they won’t.”

The last three words are the most important: “And they won’t.”

It’s not quite as strong as “all caps never,” which Snyder once said regarding the prospect of changing the team’s former name. But it underscores the reality that a fight is likely, if not definite.

The statement also glosses over the fact that the NFL imposed significant punishment on the Commanders in July 2021, based on facts from Beth Wilkinson’s investigation that the league swept and kept under the rug. As 106.7 The Fan in D.C. reported and as PFT confirmed, Wilkinson would have recommended in writing (if asked for a written recommendation) that Snyder should be required to sell the team.

That’s where this could be headed. A formal vote to force him out and then, possibly, a legal fight over implementing it.

Finally, why do the Commanders continue to think that two years of not violating the rights of employees or otherwise behaving badly should excuse everything that happened over the decade or so before it? They cling to this clumsy P.R. strategy that consists of attacking anyone who would dare to mention past misconduct without also praising the changes the team has made at a time when anything else would have guaranteed a forced sale of the team.