Jim Irsay: Chuck Pagano has leukemia, “He can beat this thing”

AP

Colts owner Jim Irsay confirmed on Monday morning that head coach Chuck Pagano is hospitalized with leukemia, but Irsay said the cancer is treatable and that everyone is optimistic.

“It’s been a very difficult week,” Irsay said. “The coach was feeling some fatigue over the last two weeks, had noticed some bruising on his body that at first he thought could have been from contact on the field, coaching, or playing with his grandkids or whatever, and eventually through talking to his wife, Tina, she said, ‘You need to check that out.'”

As it turned out, Pagano was informed that he has leukemia. Irsay said he doesn’t expect Pagano to come back as the head coach this season, although he does think Pagano may be ready to coach from the press box at some point late this year. Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians will take over as the interim head coach while Pagano is away, and Irsay said he’s confident in Arians and wants Pagano focused on getting better.

“Knowing Chuck, his first concern is going to be for his children, his grandchildren, his wife, for others: That’s just how he is,” Irsay said. “I feel with every fiber of my body, and Chuck feels the same way, that he can beat this thing.”

Still, Irsay said it’s tough for Pagano to think about anything other than football.

“He was disheartened that NFL Network wasn’t on in his hospital room,” Irsay said.

Irsay said that his message to Pagano was that they’re going to triumph over this: “When we grab the Lombardi Trophy some day,” Irsay said he told Pagano, “it’s going to be that much sweeter.”

Getty Images

In the Gumball Rally that has emerged as Inglewood and Carson race to build stadiums in the L.A. area, the company that has been trying to build a downtown venue for the past several years has thrown a fistful of nails into the path of the project proposed for the now-defunct Hollywood Park.

Via Sam Farmer and Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times, a study commissioned by AEG concludes that the Inglewood site presents an unacceptable risk of terrorism.

The study, performed by former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, warns that terrorists may try to hijack or shoot down a plane landing at LAX, with the goal of crashing it into the stadium.  Ridge calls the possibility a “a terrorist event ‘twofer.’”

The NFL is aware of the report, but it doesn’t seem to be ready to endorse it.

“We feel that the best approach is to look at these things with an independent eye,” NFL executive V.P. Eric Grubman told the Times.  “You should assume the NFL has its own experts hired and at work to assess any potential NFL site, in any city, regarding these matters.  And it is that advice that we will rely on.”

AEG has a clear bias; it wants to build the stadium in which one or two NFL teams will play.  But the concerns shouldn’t be dismissed.  The Inglewood site is in the LAX landing path.  If/when a Super Bowl is played there, any and every plane that passed by becomes the potential weapon for mayhem and destruction that would rival — and possibly surpass — the events of September 11, 2001.

Getty Images

Josh McCown is a Cleveland Brown.

The veteran quarterback and the Browns have agreed on a contract today, the team and McCown’s agent Mike McCartney both confirmed on Twitter.

McCown was released this month after a rough first year in Tampa Bay. He previously had a very promising showing during the 2013 season while filling in for Jay Cutler in Chicago. Cleveland has to hope it’s getting the Chicago version of McCown, and not the Tampa Bay version of McCown.

Cleveland also has to hope that McCown can work well with Johnny Manziel, teaching Manziel what it takes to become an NFL quarterback but also starting for the Browns this season if Manziel isn’t ready.

The arrival of McCown in Cleveland will almost certainly mean that free agent Brian Hoyer, Cleveland’s starter for most of last season, is going to sign elsewhere.

Getty Images

During multiple coach and G.M. interviews at the Scouting Combine, I spitballed about the possibility of the NFL eventually developing a flight simulator-style approach to preparing quarterbacks for game reps.  For a change, the spitball stuck to the wall.

Appearing on a panel at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, Saints coach Sean Payton suggested that a tool like that could be in the offing.

“The challenge we have all the time is that it’s the one position where there’s only one of them in the game the entire time,” Payton said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com.  “The game ends, and how do you get those guys snaps, real-time snaps?  Much like we develop pilots — they do a lot of simulator work — I think the opportunity exists [in football].  Especially when you’re able to accurately show movement with chips, exactly how it unfolds with the defense.”

If anything, it seems overdue that these billion-dollar businesses have yet to develop a way to expose young quarterbacks (especially incoming rookies who have been running spread and/or one-read offenses in college) to the blender of choices that must be made before and during a play at the next level.

From making the right pre-snap read to adjusting the offensive line as needed to keeping an eye on whether the blocking scheme works to keeping an eye on the strong safety to making the progression through the primary, secondary, and tertiary (nerd!) receiving options to hoping the running back picked up any blitzing linebackers to sensing whether the blind side defensive end is about to flatten him, finding a way to simulate that process without exposing the quarterback to any physical risk makes a lot of sense.

AP

The Ravens have reportedly reached a deal with a player who could have been eligible for restricted free agency.

The club has agreed to a two-year contract with defensive lineman Christo Bilukidi, Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun reported Friday.

Bilukidi (6-5, 320) appeared in four games as a reserve for Baltimore in 2014. The 25-year-old Georgia State product has also seen regular-season action with Oakland (2012-2013) and Cincinnati (2013). He was a sixth-round pick of the Raiders in the 2012 NFL Draft. According to Wilson, an ankle injury ended Bilukidi’s 2014 campaign.

Bilukidi figures to vie for playing time in the Ravens’ defensive line rotation in 2015.

Getty Images

The Falcons have followed up three deletions on the offensive side of the ball by dropping a member of their defense.

Defensive end Jonathan Massaquoi has been waived after three years with the team. Massaquoi was the 164th pick of the 2012 draft out of Troy and had a year left on his rookie deal.

The Falcons were starved for pass rush help last year, but usually looked elsewhere in hopes of finding it. Massaquoi saw 333 snaps on defense last season and had two sacks, which leaves him with six for his three-year career. The new coaching staff obviously didn’t think that was a mistake on the part of the previous regime and Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com reports that Massaquoi upset people last year for skipping treatments on his foot.

There’s minimal cap savings with Massaquoi out of the way, but the above suggests this wasn’t a financially motivated move. Massaquoi can be claimed on waivers by any team and will become a free agent if no one avails themselves of that option.

AP

Friday afternoon’s when you’re supposed to dump your bad news, like the Cardinals did today.

The Lions, however, did something awesome.

Via Tim Twentyman of the team’s official website, the Lions re-signed long snapper Don Muhlbach to a new one-year contract.

That’s not the awesome part, though. The awesome part is his nickname, as they refer to him as the “Nolan Ryan of long snappers.”

Former Lions General Manager Matt Millen gave Muhlbach that moniker to honor the velocity with which he flings a football upside down and between his legs. And, Muhlbach is from Texas, so there’s that, too.

We do not know, however, if Muhlbach has ever given a beatdown to Robin Ventura.

Long snapping is also the kind of job you could ostensibly do into your 40s, so maybe Muhlbach will have the same kind of longevity as the baseball Hall of Famer.

Then again, if you’re a long snapper, the only thing better than a cool nickname is total anonymity — since it means you didn’t screw up.

Getty Images

On Thursday, Judge David Doty overturned the arbitration decision upholding the suspension of Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.  While Peterson is not yet reinstated (and who knows when he will be?), he has been returned to the Commissioner-Exempt list, which allows him to speak to the Vikings.

On Friday, he spoke publicly, via press release.  Here’s the full content of it:

“I was pleased to learn about Judge Doty’s decision.  It is a positive step in protecting players’ rights and preserving due process for all players.  It also brings me one step closer to getting back on the football field and playing the sport I love.  As I prepare for my return to football, I am still focused on my family and continue to work to become a better father every day.  I want to express my gratitude for all of the support I have received from the fans, NFLPA, Jeffrey Kessler, and my agents Ben Dogra, Tracy Lartigue, and Mark Heligman from Relativity Sports.”

Peterson says nothing about whether he does or doesn’t want to return to the Vikings.  Last week, he confirmed that he has some misgivings about returning to Minnesota, which holds his rights for the next three seasons.

AP

The Cardinals released defensive tackle Darnell Dockett on Friday.  That doesn’t mean he won’t be back in Arizona.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the impasse arose because the team and the player couldn’t agree on fair market value for a defensive tackle recovering from a torn ACL.  He was due to make $6.8 million in 2015; the Cardinals thought that was too much, and Dockett thought their best offer wasn’t enough.

So how much is enough?  Dockett will find out on the open market.  And if someone else offers him more than the Cardinals were willing to pay, Dockett can join that team.  If someone else doesn’t, he can take whatever the Cardinals were willing to pay.

Arizona’s offer won’t decrease now that he’s been cut.  Because Dockett was in the final year of his deal, the team assumed no additional cap acceleration by releasing him.

While Dockett is getting a chance to test the market before free agency starts, he may not want to make any final decisions until the process gets rolling.  Ndamukong Suh and other defensive linemen could take whatever market currently exists and spike it even higher.  Likewise, teams that miss out on Suh and other defensive tackles may be willing to pay Dockett more later than they’re willing to pay him now.

Getty Images

The window for using the franchise or transition tags opened 11 days ago.  It closes in three.  So far, not a single player has been tagged.

With time still left to try to negotiate long-term deals before application of the tag, it makes sense to wait those three additional days.  After that, however, time could be on the side of the players who are tagged.

With no further injury risk (other than the day-to-day risk of off-field trauma), players who are tagged can wait until after the market opens to see how much money is spent on other players.  If, for example, the Lions don’t (and they shouldn’t) tag defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, why wouldn’t the other elite, game-changing players who merit application of the tag wait to see what Suh gets before negotiating a long-term deal?

There’s another reason to wait.  Two words:  Sammy Watkins.

Last year, the Bills gave up the ninth pick in the 2014 draft, a first-round pick in 2015, and a fourth-round pick in 2015 to get an unproven receiver.  There’s already talk that one or more teams will at least consider signing a franchise-tagged player to an offer sheet and giving up a pair of first-round picks, especially if this year’s first-round pick falls at the bottom of the round.

Alternatively, a team can wait until after the 2015 draft to sign a franchise-tagged player to an offer sheet.  Then, the compensation if the offer isn’t matched would be first-round picks in 2016 and 2017.

Sure, it would cost a lot more to sign the franchise-tagged player than it costs to sign a first-round pick.  But for teams hoping to win now, the combination of draft picks and cash could merit taking rolling the dice and rolling out the green carpet.

Getty Images

The Cardinals were able to reach agreement with wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald on a new contract that lowered his cap hit for the 2015 season significantly and they hoped to do the same with defensive lineman Darnell Dockett, but those efforts have been unsuccessful.

Arizona announced Friday that they have released Dockett, who missed the entire 2014 season because of a torn ACL. Dockett had $6.8 million coming his way from the Cardinals before the move and he was set to count $9.8 million against the cap.

Dockett joined the Cardinals as a third-round pick out of Florida State in 2004 and has been a fixture in the starting lineup since his arrival. He made one All-Pro team and was selected to three Pro Bowls while helping to spearhead the Cardinals Defense during his decade in the desert.

Dockett turns 34 in May, but the inability to work out a new deal suggests Dockett likes his chances of landing a better contract than the Cards were offering once on the open market. If he can’t, Darren Urban of the team’s website reports that the Cardinals remain interested in a Dockett return at a lower price tag.

Should Dockett not land a job at all for some reason, he can occupy his time advising the youth of America about the dangers of hanging out in strip clubs.

Getty Images

Mike Wallace is running out of veteran company in the Dolphins wide receiver corps.

Brian Hartline was sent packing on Friday morning and the Dolphins said farewell to another receiver in the afternoon when they announced the release of Brandon Gibson. Gibson was due to make $3.26 million with a cap hit of $4.3 million and the difference will go as dead money on Miami’s 2015 cap.

Gibson signed a three-year deal with Miami before the 2013 season and caught 30 passes in his first seven games with the team before a knee injury knocked him out for the remainder of the year. He had 29 catches for 295 yards and a touchdown in 14 games last year as rookie Jarvis Landry passed him in the team’s pecking order.

The team’s been noncommittal about their plans with Wallace, but word out of Miami is that they’d like to either trade him or convince him to take a pay cut. If he does wind up leaving, Landry will be joined by Matt Hazel and Rishard Matthews in a receiving group that will surely be a focus for the Dolphins this offseason.

If this is a real thing, it’s certainly better for us than another beer or soda commercial.

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz are part of Team FNV, which appears to be a campaign designed to push healthy food choices.

From looking at their website, what we know now is that it’s the product of some slick marketing minds, who know how to package an ad.

Their website has shots of Cruz catching a big apple (I see what they did there), Kaepernick playing with a pineapple, and Newton pushing carrots.

There appear to be numerous other celebrity and athlete endorsers involved as well.

Their website is new and their Twitter feed (@TeamFNV) launched yesterday, so it seems to be in the early stages.

But if they can make my kids eat the colorful stuff on their plates without calling me the worst parent ever, how bad can it be?

Photo credit: Team FNV, via Black and Blue Review.

Getty Images

The Redskins signed defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois on Thursday, a move that seems to have made two members of their defensive line expendable.

On Friday, the team confirmed that defensive tackle Barry Cofield has been released and also announced that defensive end Stephen Bowen’s reached the end of his time with the team. Bowen was set to count $8 million against the cap in 2015 and the team gets his $5.5 million in salary and bonuses back to use for other purposes. When you add that to the savings for cutting Cofield, the Redskins gained almost $10 million in cap space.

Bowen signed a five-year deal with the Redskins before the 2011 season and started all 32 regular season games in his first two seasons with the club. Injuries limited him to just 18 games over the last two years, however, and the Jean Francois signing signaled the team’s intention to look elsewhere for help at end in 2015.

The Redskins also announced that they have signed right tackle Tom Compton to a one-year deal. Compton started nine games for Washington last season and was set to become a restricted free agent next month.

Reuters

The Lambeau Field Atrium is not big enough for all the Packers fans who want to cheer on Brett Favre when he has his number retired this summer.

After the 1,600 tickets for the ceremony at the Atrium quickly sold out, the Packers have announced that fans can also sit inside the bowl at the stadium and watch the Favre jersey retirement ceremony on the big screen. Those tickets will cost $4, with proceeds going to Favre’s foundation.

Favre said this month that he was hoping the ceremony would take place in the stadium so that as many fans as possible could see it. That won’t happen — the tickets for the more intimate Atrium event are already sold — but this ensures that tens of thousands of fans can be there at Lambeau for the event.

The ceremony, which takes place on Saturday, July 18, will also be shown on NFL Network and streamed at Packers.com.

Getty Images

The Ravens released defensive end Chris Canty on Friday, a move that came a bit more than a month after Canty said he wasn’t sure if he would continue his NFL career for an 11th season.

Canty has done some broadcasting work since the end of the season and looks forward to moving into that arena at some point, but he said Friday his plan for the immediate future is to continue his playing career.

“It’s the business of the NFL, and we move on,” Canty said, via the Baltimore Sun. “I loved it here. I thanked Steve Bisciotti, Ozzie Newsome and John Harbaugh for giving me an opportunity to be part of the great tradition of this franchise. I had a ball. I rediscovered my passion for football. I had a lot of fun. I’m grateful. I’m just looking forward to the next opportunity to continue my playing career.”

In a statement announcing the release, coach John Harbaugh credited Canty for adding maturity and leadership to the team “with intelligence and in a first-class manner.” Other teams looking for that kind of veteran influence may be giving Canty a call now that he’s confirmed he plans to keep playing.