Goodell hints again at a UK franchise

With the NFL prepared to play its fourth annual regular-season game at Wembley Stadium in London, Commissioner Roger Goodell has reiterated a distinct possibility regarding the future of pro football in England.

Speaking at panel discussion of the Global Sport Summit in London, Goodell addressed the growth of the NFL in countries other than the U.S. of A., and he said that the league is seeing progress in this regard.

“All of that leads to a fan that’s more avid,” Goodell said, “and we’re seeing that here in this market and we hope to continue that growth.  We’ve said frequently that it possibly could lead to a franchise here in the UK.”

As to more immediate possibilities, Goodell was more guarded.  He said that the league considered playing more than one game in England during the 2010 season, but that the idea was shelved due to the CBA uncertainties.  “We felt we had to fix that priority before we engaged in multiple games here, but it is very much our intent to be playing multiple games here,” Goodell said.

Goodell explained that playing multiple games in London will be a precursor to placement of a team there on a permanent basis.  “I think the next step will be multiple games and if that’s successful then I think the idea of a franchise here is realistic,” Goodell said.  “As far as a timetable, I’ll just say one thing:  I’m not as concerned about doing it with any sort of a time frame other than as fast as is practical, but you want to be successful.  That’s more important to me than making it fit within any sort of time frame.”

Goodell emphasized that he’s also not twiddling his thumbs in this regard.  “Don’t mistake me as being patient,” he said.  “I’m not a very patients individual.”  And so he said that it’s “very possible” an NFL team will be headquartered in London during Goodell’s tenure as NFL Commissioner.

AP

The worst fears were realized for Colts guard Donald Thomas.

A league source tells PFT that he indeed tore his quadriceps in practice yesterday, and will need surgery.

The same injury cost Thomas the last 14 games of last season. The Colts signed him to a four-year, $14 million deal last offseason.

He’s out indefinitely now, and most likely for the entire season. That will likely push rookie Jack Mewhort into a larger role.

AP

49ers linebacker Aldon Smith took a trip to Los Angeles on Wednesday for a hearing wrapping up the case stemming from his ill-advised fake bomb threat at LAX earlier this year.

Smith avoided charges in that incident, but he was sentenced to 12 days in jail on gun and DUI charges that could also lead to discipline from the league. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Smith will be in New York on Friday, August 8 to discuss that possibility with NFL Comissioner Roger Goodell.

49ers coach Jim Harbaugh will likely be asked about the report at some point, but we wouldn’t expect him to offer up a confirmation.

Schefter writes that Smith is facing a “significant suspension” as a result of multiple infractions, an opinion that’s held by many others as well. That was also the case when Ravens running back Ray Rice was facing a suspension, though, and it appears that he and his wife were able to convince Goodell to go a different direction during their meeting. Smith will likely try to do the same by focusing on the trip to rehab that kept him out of five games last season and the fact that he’s been sober since then.

If the meeting does go down on the 8th, it will come at the end of a busy stretch for Goodell. He’s scheduled to meet with Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon, former Cowboys defensive lineman Josh Brent and a media contingent looking for answers on the Rice suspension between now and the reported meeting with Smith.

AP

It has been a little more than six months since Broncos cornerback Chris Harris tore his ACL in the team’s playoff win over the Chargers, but it doesn’t look like a decision on Harris’ readiness for the regular season will go down to the wire.

The Broncos activated Harris from the PUP list on Wednesday, clearing Harris to return to practice and eliminating the possibility that he could go on the regular season PUP list if there should be any setback in his rehab. Harris isn’t going to be doing everything right away as they try to avoid such a setback, but he’s going as fast as he can while doing the things he is allowed to do at the moment.

“They actually had to slow me down a couple of times even in the walkthrough,” Harris said, via the team’s website. “Right now the walkthrough is like practice to me. I’m just getting back out there and getting my skills retuned and ready to go.”

Harris’ return to the lineup is one of many ways the Broncos secondary will look different than the one we last saw. Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward and Bradley Roby are new to the team and Rahim Moore is also returning from an injury that kept him off the field at the end of the season. It is a group with a lot of talent and they’ll look to develop cohesiveness over the next month so that they can provide the better final result that the Broncos are looking for this time around.

AP

I’m not much for the training-camp tours because:  (1) Florio Jr. is still in high school; and (2) with a noon ET web show and a 5:30 p.m. ET NBCSN show every weekday, the logistics can be a little challenging.

But with the Saints practicing 140 miles or so down the road from the West Virginia headquarters of PFT, it was impossible to pass on the opportunity to swing down to the Greenbrier for a couple of days.  So we loaded up the ’68 VW bus after Wednesday’s show and drove south, and we’ll be broadcasting both PFT Live and Pro Football Talk from White Sulphur Springs on Thursday and Friday.

Saints fans hopefully will have added interest in the shows.  Fans of other NFC teams also may want to see what the Saints are up to, given that the Saints finally have found a way to win on the road in the postseason.  After beating the Eagles in Philly, the Saints gave the Seahawks all they could handle in Seattle.  If New Orleans can play like that on a consistent basis away from home in 2014, the road to the Super Bowl may once again go through the Superdome, making it much harder for anyone other than the Saints to qualify.

AP

Packers receiver Jordy Nelson, after signing a team-friendly deal in 2011, wanted to make $10 million per year on his extension.  Here’s every dollar he’ll potentially make through 2018, per a source with knowledge of the terms.

Nelson’s $11.5 million signing bonus is the only guaranteed money, but it’s the best kind of guaranteed money.  It’s cash up front.  No other portion of the deal is guaranteed, fully or partially.  With a cap charge of $2.3 million spread over each of the five years Nelson is under contract, the potential acceleration probably gives him at least two years of security.

There’s no security in annual roster bonuses of $31,250 per game.  It ties $500,000 per year — $2.5 million in all — to Nelson’s ability to play, week-in and week-out.  If, for example, he misses four games like he did in 2012, $125,000 disappears.

The contract also carries healthy workout bonuses of $500,000 per year from 2015 through 2018.  It’s easy money, as long as he shows up for enough sessions of the offseason program.

The base salaries are $2 million, $1.3 million, $5.5 million, $8.25 million, and $9.25 million from 2014 through 2018.  The cap numbers in those years are $5.925 million, $4.6 million, $8.8 million, $11.55 million, and $12.55 million.

Very affordable for the first two years, Nelson will move toward a higher cap ground in 2016.  Come 2017, when only $4.6 million in unallocated bonus dollars will remain and the cap number goes past $10 million, Nelson could be looking at a potential pay cut or a cap-reducing extension, based on his performance level at the time.

So it’s almost definitely a two-year commitment from the team.  Probably at least three.  After 2016, it all depends on whether his anticipated value in 2017 and 2018 justifies the larger salaries and cap numbers.

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Extra points will be a little bit harder at the start of the preseason, as the NFL is experimenting with moving the spot of the ball back for point after attempts.

Starting with Sunday night’s Hall of Fame Game and through the second week of the preseason, teams will line up at the 15-yard line when kicking extra points. (Two-point conversion attempts will remain at the 2-yard line, and extra points will move back to the 2 for the third week of the preseason and throughout the regular season.)

The NFL decided to try that after a groundswell during last season to do something — anything — to make extra points more interesting. Right now, NFL kickers make more than 99 percent of extra point attempts, making the extra point the most boring play in football. NFL owners voted down a proposal to move extra points back to the 25-yard line, but they agreed to experiment with moving them to the 15 in the preseason and reconsider the idea next offseason.

An extra point spotted at the 15 is the equivalent of a 33-yard field goal, which is still a chip shot for NFL kickers. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if every single longer extra point attempt is good this preseason. If the NFL wants to see how the game is changed by more challenging extra points, it should have moved them back to the 25, or farther.

The NFL could also consider moving two-point conversion attempts from the 2-yard line to the 1, making them easier and therefore giving coaches a greater incentive to go for two. The two-point conversion is one of the most exciting plays in football, and replacing those boring chip-shot kicks with exciting two-point conversion attempts would make the game better for the fans.

But the NFL’s owners are a conservative bunch, and they’re hesitant to make significant changes. Moving back the extra point kick by 13 yards is a very small step in the right direction, and that’s all we’re going to get this year.

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San Diego Chargers linebacker Dwight Freeney appeared in just four games in his debut season in Southern California before a torn quad tendon tear ended his year.

Freeney is back at practice for the Chargers in training camp but fully admits he has some ground to cover before he feels he’s back to himself on a football field.

According to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Freeney is working to shake the rust off.

“My last time actually playing football was in September, so I have a lot of rust I’m trying to get off,” Freeney said. “That’s what this process is about. That’s why you come out here.”

Freeney started all four games but had just two tackles and 0.5 sacks before his season came to an end. Freeney is entering his 13th NFL season and is coming off a pretty significant injury. The Chargers hope Freeney can shake the rust off enough to be a significant contributor this fall.

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Former Cowboys defensive tackle Josh Brent is reportedly attempting to resume his NFL career.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to meet with Brent by the conclusion of next week, Brent’s agent, Peter Schaffer, told ESPN’s Adam Schefter in a story published Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Brent served a 180-day prison sentence earlier this year after being convicted of intoxication manslaughter in a December 2012 accident that took the life of Cowboys teammate Jerry Brown.

According to ESPN, Brent officially petitioned for reinstatement on Tuesday, the same day he concluded a stay in rehabilitation. Schaffer told ESPN that Brent reached out to Brown’s family for their permission to seek a return to the game, and the family consented.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones indicated Wednesday that the club would weigh bringing back Brent, who retired in July 2013. However, Jones also expressed uncertainty about the reinstatement outcome.

“Well, I will look at that, but I don’t want to get ahead of our self in any way to look presumptuous relative to the commissioner or anybody else in the National Football League,” Jones said. “I don’t want to do that, because I don’t know that he can be reinstated.”

According to Jones, Brent is “contrite” about the accident and “has a lot of resolve” to resume his NFL career, the Cowboys’ owner said Wednesday. The question now is whether Brent will be granted that opportunity.

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Seattle Seahawks backup tight end Anthony McCoy is likely lost for the season after suffering an apparent torn left Achilles tendon in practice on Tuesday.

With the injury to McCoy, the Seahawks may be in search of some added tight end depth for the roster. However, they won’t be kicking the tires again on free agent Jermichael Finley.

A league source told PFT’s Mike Florio that the Seahawks would not be revisiting discussions regarding the former Green Bay Packers tight end.

Seattle had Finley is for a visit earlier in the offseason but moved on after getting starter Zach Miller to agree to a restructured contract.

One likely complication barring the Seahawks from pursuing Finley is the $10 million insurance policy Finley could cash in on if he doesn’t play football again. Seattle, currently unwilling to budge on Marshawn Lynch’s contract, likely can’t give Finley enough money to provide incentive to forgo a claim on his insurance policy.

Seattle also has a few young tight ends in Cooper Helfet, RaShaun Allen and Morrell Presley that could seize hold of the third tight end spot on their roster.

AP

Defensive tackle Jesse Williams was a dominant force for the University of Alabama but slipped to the fifth-round of the 2013 NFL Draft due to injury concerns regarding his knees.

After missing all of his rookie season due to a knee injury, Williams was beginning to turn heads of the Seattle Seahawks coaching staff in training camp with his power to disrupt at the line of scrimmage. However, the injury bug appears to have jumped up and caught Williams again.

Williams was carted off the practice field on Tuesday and the team confirmed to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times that Williams had suffered a knee injury. No further update was given on Williams’ condition or the severity of the injury.

Williams was trying to work into the defensive line rotation for the Seahawks behind starting defensive tackles Brandon Mebane and Tony McDaniel.

“The thing going into this camp was could he stay healthy and could he play?” defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said following practice. “For us right now with Jesse, we can see the strength at the line of scrimmage has not changed, and he actually got a little bit leaner. So for us, we can’t wait to see what he can do. He’s as strong as he ever has been, but still a little leaner so his mobility is better.”

The Seahawks will have to wait for the results of further testing to determine the full severity of the injury. However, leaving the practice field on the back of a cart is never a good sign.

AP

Former Steelers and current Broncos receiver Emmanuel Sanders said recently that his current quarterback is a better leader than his former quarterback. One of his former teammates isn’t happy about that.

Responding to Sanders saying that Peyton Manning is “a far better leader” than Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers receiver Antonio Brown lashed out at Sanders.

“That was terrible,” Brown said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “You don’t throw the quarterback under the bus, the guy who makes you what you are.”

After realizing he had stirred up a controversy, Sanders took to Twitter to try to clarify.

“I never said Ben wasn’t a leader,” Sanders wrote. “I just said Peyton is a better one. I have nothing but respect for Ben as a man and as a player.”

But when a fan asked Sanders about Brown’s comments, Sanders seemed to take umbrage.

“They throw dirt on my name-that means they still dig me,” Sanders wrote.

The folks in Pittsburgh won’t dig Sanders’ comments about Roethlisberger, but Sanders was just giving his honest assessment: He’s in a position to know, and he says Manning is a better leader than Roethlisberger.

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In the NFL’s lone successful waiver claim Wednesday, the Packers added first-year wide receiver Gerrard Sheppard, according to the league’s transactions.

Sheppard (6-2, 211) had been waived by Baltimore on Tuesday. The 23-year-old Sheppard signed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and earned a spot on the club’s practice squad as a rookie. Sheppard played collegiately at Connecticut (2008-2010) and Towson (2011-2012).

Sheppard’s addition gives the Packers 11 wide receivers, 10 of whom can practice, as rookie wideout Jeff Janis is on the non-football illness list. The move also puts the Packers at the 90-player roster limit.

AP

The 49ers didn’t have linebacker Aldon Smith at practice today because Smith was in Los Angeles, dealing with the fallout from an April incident in which he was accused of making a bomb threat at Los Angeles International Airport. Coach Jim Harbaugh wasn’t in the mood to talk about it.

As reporters questioned Harbaugh, he was having none of it. Here’s the transcript:

Is LB Aldon Smith here today?
“No.”

He’s in Los Angeles?
“What’s that?”

He’s in Los Angeles for his meeting there?
“He’s not here today.”

You can’t say where he is?
“No. Is that my responsibility to tell you where he is?”

You’re the head coach of the football team.
“Yeah, OK. Well you seem to already know. He’s going through a process.”

Then there’s a couple of places he could be. New York being one of them, Los Angeles being the other. He’s in the latter.
“OK. I don’t know if that was a question or a statement?”

Harbaugh answered five follow-up questions without providing reporters with any relevant information. Bill Belichick would be proud.

AP

Tyron Smith might not be the only young Cowboys star cashing in.

Team vice president Stephen Jones said the Cowboys were “working hard” to get a long-term deal for wide receiver Dez Bryant done next.

“We’re totally committed to make Dez a Cowboy for life,” Jones said, via Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Our plans from Day 1, . . . figure a way to get Dez and Tyron extended.”

The 23-year-old left tackle signed an eight-year extension which will keep him with the team through the 2023 season.

Bryant, 25, is entering the final year of his rookie deal, and will make $1.78 million this year, but Jones wasn’t going to speculate on when anything might happen.

“I don’t guess on when things get done,” he said.

The only certainty is that when it happens, it will be big. Although getting Smith done now allows them the possibility of using the franchise tag, giving them a bit of starting-point leverage.

AP

Safety Jim Leonhard said recently that he had spoken to the Packers about coming aboard for the 2014 season, but the Wisconsin native never reached agreement on a deal with the team.

He won’t have to leave the Midwest to play football this year, though. Leonhard tweeted on Wednesday afternoon that he has signed a contract to play for the Browns.

The move reunites Leonhard with Browns coach Mike Pettine, who was an assistant on Ravens, Jets and Bills teams that featured Leonhard. That year with the Bills came in 2013, when Leonhard started seven times and played all 16 games for a defense coordinated by Pettine. Leonhard had 41 tackles and four interceptions in Buffalo.

With that kind of familiarity and a thin group of backup safeties, the late start to camp shouldn’t hurt Leonhard much. Donte Whitner will hold one starting safety job for the Bills and Tashaun Gipson is pencilled in alongside him, although Leonhard could change that if Pettine decides to go with what he knows come the regular season.