We scour the news around the NFL to bring you what matters most to you and your dynasty team: the most current news on players, both superstars and the relative unknowns, and analysis to decipher the respective situations. These are many of the major stories and not meant to be an exhaustive look at all the recent happenings around the league.
Early last week, Tom Pelissero tweeted, “Ron Rivera: ‘What Cam needs right now is time and rest for his foot. We want him at 100 percent when he’s ready, so there’s no exact timetable for his return. At this point, we’re going to go forward with Kyle (Allen) as our starter.’” He added a day later, “#Panthers QB Cam Newton is believed to be dealing with a Lisfranc injury, I'm told. Plan for now is to keep rehabbing in hopes of returning and avoiding surgery, but it could be awhile until he's back on the field. Kyle Allen's show until then. (@josephperson 1st).” Person is a Panthers beat reporter. He tweeted on the topic, “Ron Rivera didn’t want to lay out a timeline for Cam Newton. So I did: Sit him until after the bye, let his Lisfranc injury heal and roll with Kyle Allen.” Salary cap expert Joel Corry tweeted, “Kyle Allen is playing for his $495,000 league minimum salary. When Allen's contract expires after the season, he will be an exclusive rights player with 1 year of service for free agency. Panthers can retain exclusive rights by giving him a $585,000 minimum salary tender in 2020.” Carolina might have a CHEAP starting quarterback next year. At worst, he is a low-cost backup. There is no assurance that Newton remains a Panther or even continues his football career. Allen has played well in his three NFL starts. He is still learning and developing. Pocket presence is one area needing growth, losing three fumbles on sacks in the victory over Houston. The Panthers are 0-2 in games that Newton starts and 2-0 (both wins on the road) with Allen under center. Adam Caplan gave context to Allen’s play, “#Panthers Kyle Allen joins #Eagles Carson Wentz as the only QBs in the Super Bowl era to go 3-0 with zero INTs in their first three career starts.” For those not remembering, he started Week 17 in 2018 after going undrafted.
In what may be a blessing in disguise, Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky injured his non-throwing (left) shoulder after a hard tackle from behind by Danielle Hunter. Chase Daniel played very well in his stead. Daniel knows Nagy’s offense from their previous stay in Kansas City and was able to step right in. Trubisky is out at least one week and maybe longer. Adam Schefter tweeted an update on Monday, “Initial MRI on Bears’ QB Mitchell Trubisky revealed he has a dislocated left shoulder, with a slight labrum tear, but does not need surgery and should be back ‘sooner rather than later’, per source. He will travel with the team to London and is unlikely to play vs. Raiders.” It is still too early to know the severity of the injury. Shoulder injuries are tricky. The 3-1 Bears play the Raiders this week before getting a bye in Week 6. Trubisky is likely targeting Week 7 versus the Saints.
There was much discussion last week regarding Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins. On the Rich Eisen Show, Joel Klatt said, “the (Redskins) coaching staff never was on board with the selection (of Dwayne Haskins)... there is a rift between the front office, who wants him to play, and the coaching staff." Ouch! This puts the young guy in a bad spot. Beat reporter John Keim tweeted a quote from the youngster in response the controversy, "'I want to be a great quarterback, one of those guys you talk about for years to come. That's not going to happen overnight. Everyone has a different path and journey.' Redskins backup Dwayne Haskins, unfazed, awaits his chance." Haskins got his chance Sunday against the Giants. He did not play especially well, but neither did Case Keenum who was benched. Coming in for Keenum, Haskins completed just 9-of-17 passes for 107 yards and 3 picks, no touchdowns. Expect Colt McCoy to be in the mix, too. Might be best to hold the rookie out of the impending thrashing at the hands of the Patriots this week. Let one of the veterans take the beating.
Melvin Gordon ended his holdout last week. We can debate the merits of the decision, but he is now back with the team. Salary cap expert Joel Corry tweeted out the potential implications of the holdout, “Melvin Gordon's holdout has potentially cost him a little over $3.5M with full enforcement of fines & 3 weeks of lost salary. As a 1st round pick playing under a 5th-year option, he was subject to an additional fine of 1 week's salary for each preseason game missed.” Corry added, “When it becomes obvious a holdout won't work, the agent should start discussing forgiveness of his client's fines as a condition to return. Hopefully, this happened with Melvin Gordon. Some teams cut fines significantly, if not forgive. Others don't to deter future holdouts.” Gordon is only slated to make $5 million for the 2019 season so we hope he was able to get some, or all, of the fines waived. Gordon’s return comes at a great time for the team. Justin Jackson injured his calf and will miss several weeks so it will be Gordon and Austin Ekeler leading the ground game going forward. The way Ekeler is playing, we should not simply assume his role will fade away.
Davante Adams was having a stellar outing on Thursday night before suffering a toe injury. There was much worry in the fantasy community. After the game, Ian Rapoport tweeted, “#Packers WR Davante Adams tells reporters post-game that he has turf toe and he’ll see Dr. Robert Anderson in GB to get it examined. All this following a career-high 180 yards receiving.” Adams spoke to reporters holding his shoe because he could not put it back on. Another Rapoport tweet offered comfort on Friday, “#Packers WR Davante Adams had his MRI today on his toe injury, and sources say it’s not believed to be serious. The team will be careful with their star pass-catcher. But if he misses time, it may not be much.” Expect to see an expanded role for Geronimo Allison and Jimmy Graham.
Michael Gallup started the season on fire before going down with a knee injury. Beat reporter Clarence Hill, Jr. offered an update on Twitter, “Per source, Cowboys receiver Michael Gallup still has swelling in his knee following arthroscopic. He missed Dolphins game. Will miss the Saints game. And doesn't look good for the Packers game next week. He is still probably a couple of weeks away from returning.”
In the midst of the injuries on Sunday, the hamstring that caused Kenny Stills to exit the ballgame and not return is concerning. He had two early catches before leaving. Given his inability to return, we do not expect him to play this coming week.
Beat writer Mary Kay Cabot tweeted out last week, “#Browns David Njoku elects not to have surgery on his broken wrist, source says, which increases the chances he'll be back this season.” This means we will see the role of the tight end position continue to increase. On Sunday, it was Ricky Seals-Jones who had a big game. He is an athletic player who is not a bad desperation play if your fantasy team is constrained by bye weeks. Cleveland does play two-tight-end sets often and a forgotten name – Pharaoh Brown played some. He was a solid prospect at Oregon before suffering through injuries.
Beat writer John Keim tweeted last Tuesday on the status of Jordan Reed, “Gruden said Jordan Reed has seen multiple specialists. Trying to see how they can help; want to make him comfortable for if/when he returns. Reed was in the locker room after the game last night.” He was unable to play against the Giants and does not seem to be on the cusp of a return. In deep leagues, consider stashing Jeremy Sprinkle. He has upside in an offense void of play-makers. The uncertainty at quarterback may result in neither tight end getting able to get into a groove.
Vance McDonald hurt his shoulder in the week-3 matchup against San Francisco. After reporters saw his arm in a sling, alarm bells went off through the media. Adam Schefter broke the news of Seattle trading Nick Vannett to Pittsburgh, “Seahawks are finalizing a trade to send TE Nick Vannett to the Pittsburgh Steelers, per league source.” Ben Volin piped in with, “Can't help but notice the GM isn't under contract past this year.” Tom Pelissero gave the details of the deal, “The #Steelers traded a fifth-round pick in 2020 to the #Seahawks for TE Nick Vannett, a source said. Needed help with Vance McDonald banged up and paid the price to get it. Vannett has 48 career catches and 4 TDs.” This said more about Xavier Grimble than the shoulder injury of McDonald. Grimble was placed on injured reserve last Wednesday. The bigger question is why a team without a win would trade a fifth-round pick for a reserve tight end. The answer may say more about the desperation of a general manager who is not under contract next year.
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