NFL News

[Futureshock]

TODD GURLEYRB, ATLANTA FALCONS

Todd Gurley said he's open to sitting out the season if the NFL doesn't come up with a proper COVID-19 safety plan.


“It’s really not structured right,” Gurley said about the NFL’s current restart plan. “There’s not a proper plan in place that I’m comfortable with. I don’t have a wife. I don’t have any kids. You have to look at guys on the other side who have [a] pregnant wife, kids and a wife that they go home to every single day. I just feel like we just need to come up with something a lot better than what they’re giving us. Everything they gave us is pretty last minute. We should have been able to have answers weeks ago, if not months ago. You have to be prepared to not play or be prepared to have a half a season. If they don’t do things right, we won’t have a full season. It’s just how things have been going so far this year. Hopefully everything goes well, but I don’t see [it]. It just doesn’t sit well right now.” The league and NFLPA are working on a plan as we speak, but this is something that should've been done weeks ago, as Gurley said, with training camps scheduled to open this coming week. Gurley is one of the first players we've seen actually talk about the possibility of sitting out.

SOURCE: 92.9 Atlanta
Jul 24, 2020, 10:40 AM

[Futureshock]

It just amazes me that people are being paid good money to do a job they don't do.

One thing that would be easy to implement is the widening of the sidelines. That would give them more room and hopefully distance different player groups (offense/deffense/ST) so that a whole team would be less susceptible to contracting COVID. Not rocket science really.

And masks should be mandatory. If a player doesn't want to wear safety equipment, he loses his salary and an accrued year.

You put the helmet and mask on while you are on the field and take it off on the sideline and social distance.

Again, not rocket science.

Clarification: the sideline area that players are allowed to be in goes (I think) from the 30 yd line to 30 yard line. Going from 20 to 20 would be an extra 20 yards to distance. Offense could be 20 to 40 and the D on the other end 20 to 40 with the ST being in the 40 to 40 area.

WTH am I talking about. That makes too much sense.

[jaadam4]

The JETS got a haul for Adams, 2 1st rounders and a 3rd for Adams and a 4th.

That's unbelievable for someone that wants megamoney

[Iron Lion]

The JETS got a haul for Adams, 2 1st rounders and a 3rd for Adams and a 4th.

That's unbelievable for someone that wants megamoney

Bob Quinn's 300IQ move of getting a ham sandwich for Slay will pay dividends. I guarantee it. Also, may I sell you a timeshare?

[Whitley]

Bob Quinn's 300IQ move of getting a ham sandwich for Slay will pay dividends. I guarantee it. Also, may I sell you a timeshare?

One big difference is that Adams is an ascending young player. This is a guy you can build around and a guy Seattle really needed in the back end.

[Iron Lion]

One big difference is that Adams is an ascending young player. This is a guy you can build around and a guy Seattle really needed in the back end.

They already got Diggs from us for the other half of the ham sandwich.

But anyway, corner is a more important position than safety. The positional value easily offsets the age difference.

[Futureshock]

The JETS got a haul for Adams, 2 1st rounders and a 3rd for Adams and a 4th.

That's unbelievable for someone that wants megamoney

Jets trade Jamal Adams to Seahawks

Posted by Michael David Smith on July 25, 2020, 4:14 PM EDT
Jamal Adams wanted out, and he got his wish. And the Jets got a big haul of draft picks for him. The Jets have traded Adams, the disgruntled Pro Bowl safety, to the Seahawks for a package that includes two first-round draft picks. The full details of the trade: Adams and a 2022 fourth-round draft [more]


Jamal Adams vows to be “a man on a mission” in Seattle

Posted by Michael David Smith on July 25, 2020, 7:18 PM EDT
Jamal Adams was disgruntled as a Jet, but as a Seahawk he says he’s motivated and ready to win. “To the Seahawks Org & Fans,” Adams wrote on Twitter, “You have a man on a mission, a man all in on winning a Super Bowl, being the best leader & teammate he can be, & [more]


Joe Douglas on Jamal Adams trade: “This was an offer we couldn’t ignore”

Posted by Mike Florio on July 25, 2020, 10:56 PM EDT
More than 50 years after a Godfather from New York made the phrase, “We’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse” part of the American lexicon, a General Manager from New York has applied a twist to that catch phrase. “This was an offer we couldn’t ignore,” G.M. Joe Douglas said Saturday regarding the trade [more]

Pete Carroll calls Jamal Adams trade “an extraordinary opportunity”

Posted by Michael David Smith on July 27, 2020, 5:43 AM EDT
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is pumped about having Jamal Adams on his defense. Carroll told Peter King in this week’s Football Morning in America that players like Adams, the safety acquired in a trade with the Jets on Saturday, don’t come along very often. “An extraordinary opportunity for us,” Carroll said. The price for that [more]

[Futureshock]

Six players from five teams placed on COVID-19 reserve list

Posted by Charean Williams on July 26, 2020, 8:11 PM EDT

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The Browns announced they have placed running back Dontrell Hilliard and safety Jovante Moffatt on reserve/COVID-19 list. Four other players from four teams also were placed on the COVID-19 list Sunday, according to the NFL transactions report.

Ravens defensive back Nigel Warrior, Bengals defensive end Kendall Futrell, Cowboys receiver Jon'Vea Johnson and Chiefs receiver Aleva Hifo also now are on the COVID-19 reserve list, according to the NFL transactions list.

The road to an NFL roster just got longer for all four players, who will miss important conditioning time.

The new reserve list category was created for a player who either tests positive for COVID-19 or who is quarantined after being in close contact with an infected person. If a player falls into either of these categories, their club is required immediately to place the player on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

Clubs are not allowed to disclose whether a player is in quarantine or is positive for COVID-19.

[The King]

Hey, it’s another “we will trade TWO 1st rounders (cheap 5 year deals) for a guy we have to give a massive extension to.”

We all know how this ends and it typically ends badly.

[jaadam4]

Hey, it’s another “we will trade TWO 1st rounders (cheap 5 year deals) for a guy we have to give a massive extension to.”

We all know how this ends and it typically ends badly.

I agree. I can't believe everyone is acting like they stole him. Adams wants 20 mil a year.

[Futureshock]

Dont’a Hightower Opts Out Of Playing In 2020

Last Updated 7:47 AM, July 28, 2020 EDT – Josh Alper

[Futureshock]

Does the Jamal Adams trade signal an eventual shift back to a defensive focus in Seattle?

Posted by Mike Florio on July 27, 2020, 7:18 PM EDT

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It’s easy and it’s obvious to look at the trade that brought safety Jamal Adams to Seattle and to assume that the Seahawks plan to build a team around Adams on the defensive side of the ball and quarterback Russell Wilson on the offensive side of the ball. But it’s fair to also consider whether the Adams trade is the first step in a potential shift back to the days when the Legion of Boom delivered a pair of Super Bowl appearances.

After the 2017 season, the Seahawks pushed the pendulum toward Wilson and the offense. Through two seasons of a greater emphasis on offense and a rebuilding defense, the Seahawks have lost in the wild-card round and in the divisional round. (But for Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz‘s early exit from the 2019 wild-card game, the Seahawks may have not made it out of Philly in January.)

When the defense was the focal point of the organization, the Seahawks had a much more established spot in the upper echelon (or as Simms would say echelonce) of NFL teams. Is Adams’ arrival, then, a sign of a future premised on balance between the units, or a reversion to the days of a suffocating defense and a run-based offense that was good enough, but hardly high-octane?

The answer possibly hinges on the wants and wishes of Wilson. A sense continues to gurgle around the league that he’s never, and never has been, truly enamored with the way the Seattle offense uses him. Before he signed his latest four-year extension in 2019, rumors abounded that he’d like to continue his career elsewhere. And so it makes sense to at least wonder whether the Seahawks are contemplating a not-too-distant future that entails dramatically reducing the salary commitment at the quarterback position from $35 million per year, avoiding the next squeeze play from a baseball agent with only one NFL client (which gives Mark Rodgers freedom to drive an ultra-hard bargain with no consequence to his broader practice) that could drive to commitment to $45 million per year or more, and finding a young quarterback who can be groomed into being good enough to thrive, with a revolving door of power running backs and a defense that constantly positions the offense to score points.

Coach Pete Carroll has a long background in defensive football. As the NFC West skews toward offensive potency, he surely relishes the opportunity to reload his defense with enough talent to neutralize the likes of Kyler Murray, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Jared Goff.

Yes, on the surface it would be lunacy to move on from Wilson. But if Wilson wants to move on from the Seahawks (obviously, he’d never take such a mission public, unlike his newest teammate) and if the Seahawks want to stop paying for a high-end sports car that the organization doesn’t seem to quite know how to properly drive, maybe that’s the eventual play.

If it happens, it won’t happen until 2022 at the earliest. With the salary cap set to plummet to $175 million in 2021 and with a 2021 trade triggering a $39 million cap charge, the Seahawks couldn’t afford to devote 22.2 percent of their 2021 cap to someone not on the team.

The first step will be for the Seahawks to see what they have in Adams, and to decide whether to pay him upwards of $20 million per year on a second contract. If/when that happens, it could be time to start thinking about whether Wilson, who plans to play until he’s 45, will spend many more years of his 30s with the team that made him a third-round pick in 2012.

[Futureshock]

Four Vikings go on COVID-19 list, including Justin Jefferson

Posted by Charean Williams on July 27, 2020, 5:09 PM EDT

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The Vikings announced earlier in the day that head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman has tested positive for COVID-19.

They have followed that by placing four players on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

First-round choice Justin Jefferson is among those on the list, the biggest name to show up on the NFL’s special list thus far. The Vikings also placed rookies Blake Brandel, Brian Cole II and Tyler Higby on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

The new reserve list category was created for a player who either tests positive for COVID-19 or who is quarantined after being in close contact with an infected person. If a player falls into either of these categories, their club is required immediately to place the player on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

Clubs are not allowed to disclose whether a player is in quarantine or is positive for COVID-19.

The Vikings do not believe the cases are tied to Sugarman’s positive test, Andrew Krammer of the Star-Tribune reports.

[Futureshock]

BRUCE ARIANSC, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

In a conversation on the Buccaneers' plans for handling the coronavirus, coach Bruce Arians stated "the players, they’re going to all get sick, that’s for sure.”


“It’s just a matter of how sick they get,” Arians continued. "We’ve got to be careful." This season will be unlike any other. Positive cases will be confirmed, and it appears the NFL will attempt to power through them with a multi-week quarantine for impacted players and staff members - and a larger practice squad to pick replacements from. Arians is a three-time cancer survivor and took measures to aid his health even before this offseason, including riding a golf cart during practice and handing play calling responsibilities to Byron Leftwich. Arians, at 67 years old, is at higher risk than other coaches around the league. As is safeties coach Nick Rapone (64) and quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen (64). “It’s the team that adapts and has the most discipline, they’re going to win,” Arians concluded. This level of honesty is appreciated, but also chilling.

SOURCE: Tampa Bay Times
Jul 27, 2020, 3:22 PM

[Futureshock]

EVERSON GRIFFENDL, UNSIGNED FREE AGENT


The Packers have expressed interest in free agent DE Everson Griffen, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.


The interest is mutual, per Rapoport, as Griffen narrows his list of options. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer has continued to say he would welcome Griffen back and ESPN's Jeremy Fowler also reported the Cardinals could bring in Griffen to elevate their pass rush. Of the three, the Packers actually make the least amount of sense due to investing so much at the position in recent years - Za'Darius Smith, Preston Smith and Rashan Gary, just to name a few. This could be an agent-driven play to drive up Griffen's eventual signing price.

SOURCE: Ian Rapoport on Twitter
Jul 27, 2020, 3:06 PM