NFL News

[Futureshock]

Cardinals G Justin Pugh Out For Season


October 18th, 2022 at 10:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

Justin Pugh joined Rodney Hudson in considering retirement this offseason. In order to continue his career, the veteran guard will now need to go through an extensive rehab effort. Pugh is believed to have torn an ACL, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com tweets.

While Pugh has a notable injury history, this will be his shortest NFL season. Pugh, 32, missed the Cardinals’ opener because of a neck injury. This five-game season will also close out the veteran offensive lineman’s contract, which he signed in 2018. The 10th-year veteran’s latest setback obviously hurts his value for a potential free agency run in 2023.

Arizona paid up for Pugh four years ago, giving him a five-year, $45MM contract to head west. The former Giants first-rounder has now played five seasons with two teams. Pugh’s Arizona commitment ended up giving Kyler Murray a long-term interior presence; the Syracuse alum has 119 career starts under his belt.

The Giants struggled to assemble quality lines during Eli Manning‘s final seasons, but Pugh was part of five New York fronts, working as a guard and at right tackle. Pugh suffered a midseason injury during his first Cardinals campaign — that one also a knee malady — but he was mostly healthy during Murray’s rookie-contract seasons. Pugh played 45 games from 2019-21, being the team’s interior constant as Murray grew into a Pro Bowler.

Pugh agreed to a pay cut during the 2021 offseason, but after a 2022 salary reduction, the Syracuse product said he contemplated retirement. Hudson also did so, but the veteran center reported to Cards training camp as well. This injury hurts one of the league’s most experienced O-lines, a unit that headed into the season housing a 12th-year center, a 10th-year left guard, an 11th-year right tackle (Kelvin Beachum) and an eighth-year left tackle (D.J. Humphries).

Pro Football Focus ranks Pugh as this season’s No. 36 overall guard. The Cardinals are seeing a nice bounce-back season from free agent flier Will Hernandez, whom PFF slots in the top 20. Max Garcia replaced Pugh against the Seahawks; the eighth-year vet started 11 games last season. Pugh’s injury also makes the Cards’ decision to trade for Cody Ford a bit more important. Arizona designated Ford for return Tuesday and could activate him at any point in the next three weeks.

[froot loops]

The NFL could learn a lesson from Adam Silver on how to grease the skids for a Snyder exit. If the Suns are going to go for at least 4.4 billion, the Commanders can fetch even more.

[Futureshock]

Ravens To Sign WR DeSean Jackson


October 18th, 2022 at 3:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

DeSean Jackson‘s Ravens visit has produced an agreement. The 14-year veteran wide receiver is signing with the team, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). It is a practice squad agreement, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com notes.

Although Jackson said this offseason he was pondering retirement, he re-emerged recently indicating he was still on the market. The Ravens will be the deep threat’s sixth NFL team. At 35, Jackson will also become the NFL’s oldest active wideout.

The Ravens have No. 1 wideout Rashod Bateman recovering from a foot sprain, and while Devin Duvernay has shown strides as an auxiliary target this season, no other Baltimore receiver has totaled more than 80 yards through six games. Jackson will be expected to fill some of the void created by the trade of Marquise Brown.

Despite his age and recent injury trouble, Jackson has remained a target for teams. The Rams cut him last season, but teams pursued the veteran; that process led Jackson to Las Vegas. The former Pro Bowler made an impact for the playoff-bound Raiders, doing so after helping the Rams early in the season.

Albeit on only 20 receptions, Jackson averaged a career-high 22.7 yards per catch last season. He posted 100-yard games for both of his 2021 teams — a Week 3 explosion against the Bucs as a Ram and a Thanksgiving assist to the Raiders, helping Las Vegas to a last-second win over Dallas — and showed more durability than he had during his second Philadelphia stint by playing in 16 games and the Raiders’ wild-card tilt.

Jackson missed 24 games during his second Eagles stay, but the Rams still took a flier on him. The Ravens will follow suit and will have one of the most impactful deep targets in NFL history prepared to help their cause. Jackson’s three Pro Bowls all came during his first stint with the Eagles, which ended after the 2013 season, but he has five 1,000-yard seasons and four years as the NFL’s top yards-per-catch player. For his career, Jackson has 11,110 receiving yards — 36th all time.

This move follows the Ravens’ in-season pickup of Jason Pierre-Paul. JPP, who was signed to the Ravens’ active roster without a practice squad bridge period, cleared the 50-snap barrier in his first game as a Raven. D-Jax’s recent injury and usage history suggests OC Greg Roman will not deploy him as a full-timer alongside Bateman, but his addition figures to open up the field for he and Mark Andrews going forward.

[jaadam4]

Damn we might have to start an “NFL Owner news thread”

[Futureshock]

Would be a good reality show

[Futureshock]

Commanders cite “bank error” as reason for 50/50 prize check bouncing

Posted by Mike Florio on October 20, 2022, 1:06 PM EDT

Getty Images

If I told you one of the NFL’s 32 teams wrote a check for the prize in a 50/50 drawing and the check bounced, which team would you guess did it?

Yep, that’s the one.

Via USA Today, the Commanders claim that a “bank error” resulted in a check for $14,822 making like a super ball after the Week One game against the Jaguars.

“We’ve reached out to the fan and sent an electronic payment directly to his account,” the Commanders said in a statement. “It was a bank error, and we have reached out to the bank to determine what happened, and to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

The issue emerged after a caller informed The Team 980 on Wednesday morning of the bad check.

To the team’s credit, the situation has been resolved. But that’s like saying “we fixed the railing that collapsed under the weight of paying customers” or “we plugged the pipe that spewed raw sewage all over paying customers” or “we’ve hired new management after years of harassment and other workplace misconduct.”

So hail to the Commanders. They’ve become adept at cleaning up the messes that they continuously and inevitably make.

[Tom]

According to Monopoly, bank errors are always in your favor…

[Tom]

Sorry, stupid joke…

[Cody_Russell]

Reminds me of “Semi-Pro” when Jackie Moon tried to avoid handing over the prize check. Of course Dan Snyder has some similarities to Jackie Moon…

[Cody_Russell]

Big move.

[froot loops]

Counterpoint: Not a stumner

[chemiclord]

Well, until he breaks in half next week, at least.

[Mainevent]

SF running backs can never seem to stay healthy, so trade for the most injury prone star RB in the league. It’s like irresistible force meeting and object on skates.

[froot loops]

Yeah but for those few weeks he is healthy, the results might be glorious.

[jaadam4]

Reminds me of “Semi-Pro” when Jackie Moon tried to avoid handing over the prize check. Of course Dan Snyder has some similarities to Jackie Moon…

Dukes hitting that shot was f’ing pimp bro