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Monday Morning Lounge Chair: Latest NFL Rumors

Things have come to a crashing halt around the National Football League less than two months until the draft in New York City. Outside of the whole DeSean Jackson saga and likely Chris Johnson “sweepstakes” there might not be a whole lot going on right now. In any event, we figured it made sense to help you out by putting the latest gossip on one page for your viewing pleasure. 

After all, no one wants to sift through 10 different websites for information on a Monday morning. Here at Sportsnaut, we gotcha. Here are the latest NFL rumors.

 

Still Plenty of Interest Surrounding DeSean Jackson

According to a local NBC affiliate in D.C, Jackson is planning on meeting with the Washington Redskins today.

This will represent his first of what will likely be many visits to cities around the league. Jackson was released by the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday amid reports of him being tied to gang members in Southern California.

Due to a lack of room under the salary cap, Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs have dropped out of the sweepstakes for Jackson. Meanwhile, a perceived connection between the New York Jets and Jackson may have to take a backseat to some reality. According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, the Jets weren’t one of the teams to contact Jackson’s reps after his release. 

 

Kyle Terada, USA Today

Kyle Terada, USA Today

Other reports suggest that there is some interest within the Jets organization, but that interest hasn’t reached the highest levels of the front office, which likely includes owner Woody Johnson himself.

In California, the Oakland Raiders are seen as somewhat of a front runner at this point. While Jackson has yet to meet with the brass in Napa, they are doing their homework on the three-time Pro Bowl performer. This likely means that general manager Reggie McKenzie wants to check in on Jackson’s reported gang ties prior to making a real push for his services. As I have mentioned before, such an investigation probably won’t yield much. 

Further east in Buffalo, the Bills seems like a quiet under-the-radar option.

Other teams are likely showing interest behind the scenes, including the San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and San Diego Chargers.

 

Interest in Chris Johnson?

Don McPeak, USA Today

Don McPeak, USA Today

The Tennessee Titans are likely going to release their long-time running back at some point this week. The first team that came up in rumors around the water cooler were the Atlanta Falcons, who already have a veteran running back in the form of Steven Jackson.

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, those reports might have been a tad premature.

 Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Falcons have no interest in the current (for now) Titans tailback.

When he is released, Johnson will find a rather cool market for his services. Veteran running backs haven’t exactly been in high demand since free agency started and Johnson’s availability likely won’t change that.

Johnson has drawn criticism for his lackluster play over the last few seasons, but he’s still averaging over 1,400 total yards and about seven touchdowns per season since the start of 2011.

Two teams that were in need of a running back have filled that void in free agency over the past week. The Miami Dolphins landed Knowshon Moreno on a one-year contract while the Oakland Raiders signed Maurice Jones-Drew to an three-year deal at an unidentified value.

This leaves the market for Johnson’s services even more bare.

The Dallas Cowboys have previously been linked to Johnson and could be a decent fit. They could use a COP (change of pace back) for DeMarco Murray, but we already know that Jerry Jones’ squad has limited funds under the salary cap. A logical destination could be the Denver Broncos who, as I mentioned before, lost Moreno to Miami in free agency.

Outside of that, Johnson might just have to wait until after the draft to see what team might need help. Either way you put it, he’s not looking at a deal anywhere near the last one he signed with the Tennessee Titans.

 

Christine Michael is a Saint

Joe Nicholson, USA Today

Joe Nicholson, USA Today

No, the Seattle Seahawks running back wasn’t traded to the New Orleans Saints during the weekend. Instead, he’s practically shown himself to be a real saint this offseason. As our very own Rachel Wold indicated on Sunday, Michael is taking an autistic teenage girl to her prom. As Rachel point out…

We are so often focused on the negative when an NFL player tangles with the law, or just speaks out of step. This feel-good story is quite the opposite as Seattle Seahawks running back Christine Michael is about to make a young ladies’ prom dreams come true.

It really is a breath of fresh air to hear some good news regarding professional athletes. Michael, who just finished his rookie season with Seattle, seems to have a great head on his shoulders. Good for him.

 

Jake Locker’s Last Chance in Tennessee?

Jim Brown, USA Today

Jim Brown, USA Today

According to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post, the Tennessee Titans are unlikely to pick up Locker’s option for the 2015 season. Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt had the following to say about Locker and his future with the team.

He knows what’s at stake, he’s got to perform…One thing I like about him is I’ve seen improvement in his play over the last few years. He hasn’t played enough, that’s the hard thing. You’d like to have a little bit more to evaluate.

That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement by the new Titans head coach. Tennessee possesses the No. 11 overall pick in the upcoming draft, at which point the top-tier quarterbacks might not be available. With that said, Tennessee could find an eventual replacement on the off chance that one of them does fall just outside of the top 10.

In any event, 2014 appears to be a make-or-break season for the former No. 8 overall pick. Locker missed nine games due to injury last season, throwing eight touchdowns compared to four interceptions while averaging just 179.4 passing yards per game. In total, Locker has missed 15 games over the past two seasons.

 

Jim Kelly Facing the Battle of His Life

jim-kelly-daughter2

Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly’s bout with cancer took a turn late last week. While it was announced that Kelly couldn’t undergo a schedule surgery to remove the cancer, there is some silver lining, via Peter King.

Kelly begins a regimen of treatment—chemotherapy today and Tuesday, radiation Wednesday, Thursday and Friday—designed to stop the cancer that is dangerously close to the carotid artery in his head.

It’s too perilous to operate now, even if the cancer that has spread up his infraorbital nerve can be neutralized, because there’s no guarantee all of it can be found and removed. If doctors operated and all the cancer wasn’t eradicated, weeks could go by before chemo or radiation could begin while he recovers from surgery, and that crucial time could allow the cancer to spread into his brain unabated. So for now, it’s several weeks of aggressive chemo and radiation.

Kelly’s New York oncologist, Dr. Peter Costantino, called Kelly’s condition “very treatable and potentially curable’’ last week.

The vast majority of this report is eye-opening. Kelly has a long road towards recovery and will be going through some dark days in the coming months. His cancer, however, is treatable. That is something that most of us questioned when news broke last week about his surgery being cancelled. We had seen that very same story in the past, and it normally didn’t end well.

Looking back at King’s report for a second, as he relayed the reality of the situation that Kelly and his family finds themselves in to the masses…

The reality of their lives, all of their lives, is that Jim Kelly is fighting for his. He’s in the best hands he can be, and all they all can do is hope, and pray, that modern science works, and these microscopic cancer cells don’t continue the march to Jim Kelly’s brain.

Let’s all do what we can to help Jim through this time. If it’s prayer, then so be it. If it’s something else that you do in your personal lives to get through trials and tribulations, please pass that along. I for one, will be praying for him and others who have had to deal with this disgusting reality of life that starts with a “C.” As someone that has gone through this within my own family recently, losing my grandfather, who I was extremely close to, I can imagine what Kelly’s family is going through. My personal prayers and thoughts are with them during this difficult time.

 

Quick Hits

Crystal LoGiudice, USA Today

Crystal LoGiudice, USA Today

Philadelphia likely traded for Darren Sproles with the understanding that it would be parting ways with DeSean Jackson, but this didn’t stop head coach Chip Kelly from downplaying that connection, via Burlington County Times

Totally different positions…Darren is a running back, DeSean a wideout, so our whole thing, and I mentioned it when we got Darren, we’re excited about him, but we’ve got a long way to go before we play a game so let’s get him in here.

Kelly cannot ignore the fact that Sproles has racked up 318 total targets over the past three seasons. Now in Philadelphia’s high-paced offense, there is no reason to believe that Sproles won’t help alleviate the pain that comes with Jackson’s departure.

Ray Rice, who is facing felony aggravated assault charges for beating up his then fiancee, married her at a ceremony on Friday.

For those who think that this is a marriage of convenience to help shield Rice’s new wife from having to testify against him in court, the state of New Jersey has an exception to the spousal privilege law when the spouse was the alleged victim of a violent crime, via The Baltimore Sun. 

 

 

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