ProFootballTalk: Sanchez, Tebow both on the trade block?

The Jets have expressed their willingness to trade both Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow, but will New York find a team eager to meet their asking price?

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49ers offensive lineman Anthony Davis left the team over the weekend, without officially retiring. The designation won’t matter; he’ll owe the team the balance of the signing bonus money that he previously received in anticipation of future services.

Specifically, Davis owes $1.235 million for 2016. That figure represents 14/17ths of his allocation for the current year, since Davis was on the team for three weeks of the regular season.

The good news (is there is any) Davis earned $216,176 of his $1.225 million base salary for 2016, which originally was his base salary for 2015.

If he remains retired, he’ll owe the team another $1.5 million in 2017. That’s in addition to, per a source with knowledge of the situation, $1.667 million Davis repaid when he originally retired in 2015.

Unless Davis returns to the team and properly retires, he’ll be unable to play for the 49ers or anyone else in 2016. He has been placed on the exempt/left squad list, the team has sent Davis the so-called five-day letter, and upon the expiration of the five days he’ll be placed on the reserve/left squad list, which shuts the player down for the year.

That’s apparently fine with Davis, who as one source explained it simply isn’t inclined to endure the day-to-day demands of football season. It’s actually honorable that he walked away under circumstances that will force him to pay another $2.735 million on top of the $1.667 million he returned a year ago.

In 2015, Davis could have half-assed it and gotten cut, which would have allowed him for keep more than $4.4 million. In 2016, he could have milked the concussion that kept him out of two games, possibly resulting in placement on season-ending IR. Alternatively, Davis could have embraced his role as a backup, done the bare minimum, collected his full $1.225 million salary, and not paid back another dime.

Instead, he’s gone again. Once he lands on the reserve/left squad list, Davis won’t be permitted to play for the 49ers or anyone else this year. He could be traded to another team in 2017, but if he’s not inclined to play pro football in San Francisco it’s hard to imagine him ever mustering the will to play again.

It’s clear that Davis truly has no interest in continuing to play professional football. Unlike others who have walked away, Davis willingly will give back over $4 million for his freedom from the sport.

AP

Usually, when your head coach makes a direct suggestion, it’s wise to acknowledge it respectfully, at least.

But Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said he plans to make no changes to his demeanor after his latest outburst, even though Giants coach Ben McAdoo said he should work to keep his emotions in check.

“Nah, I’m not really … I’m in a great place right now,” Beckham said, via Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com. “Mentally, physically, spiritually, there is not really much that bothers me at all, to be honest. So I’m going to go out and play football the only way I’ve ever known how to play, try my best to be the best teammate you possibly can.

“At the end of the day, you play for the guys that wear the jersey. They’re the ones who take the field with you, who you share the blood, sweat and tears with. I’m just going to go out and be who I am.”

He was then asked if he was concerned he could be a distraction, as his boss said, Beckham blew that off.

“He said, she said,” Beckham replied. “I’m not really concerned about anything but the Minnesota Vikings.”

McAdoo seemed concerned about his team and its star player, after Beckham’s sideline freakout during last week’s loss to Washington, which included losing by TKO in a fight with the kicking net. And while veteran cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie urged Beckham to “never lose that fire,” he also suggested there was a time and place for it.

“But on the sideline there are a bunch of guys and they’re already down and, if a guy looks at you the way we look at you as a leader, keep it in control until we get to the locker room,” Rodgers-Cromartie said. “Throw your helmet all across the locker room so nobody can see. That’s fine. In an atmosphere like [the sideline during a game], keep your cool.”

Beckham seems unconcerned with the advice, so here’s some more for him: Don’t pick fights with equipment that might fight back.

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The Bengals turned in a dominating performance in Thursday night’s 22-7 win over the Dolphins, but coach Marvin Lewis still saw a lot that needs improvement.

Lewis wasn’t pleased that the offense scored only one touchdown, with five field goals.

“We’re moving the football, but we need to finish more drives with touchdowns,” Lewis said. ‘Occasionally you’re going to get stopped, but we have to make sure we’re not doing things to stop ourselves and that we finish more drives.”

Also needing improvement is the Bengals’ running game, as Jeremy Hill averaged just 3.4 yards a carry, while Giovani Bernard averaged 1.8 yards a carry.

‘When you aren’t very good at something, you usually concern yourself with trying to get better at it,” Lewis said.

The 2-2 Bengals got a big win against a bad opponent on Thursday night, but they know they have work to do.

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Cornerback Byron Maxwell being benched was one of several lineup changes the Miami Dolphins elected to make prior to Thursday night’s game with the Cincinnati Bengals.

In Maxwell’s place, the Dolphins started second-year cornerback Tony Lippett instead.

According to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, Maxwell said he was told early in the week that he would not be starting against the Bengals. He ultimately didn’t end up playing a snap – on defense or special teams – joining Matt Moore and Dallas Thomas as the only Dolphins not to play.

So what was his reaction to the decision?

“It doesn’t matter,” Maxwell said.

Maxwell said it didn’t matter if he was angry about the decision or not either.

Lippett unsurprisingly struggled against one of the premier wide receivers in the league in A.J. Green.

Green caught 10 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown against the Dolphins as Lippett was frequently the target of Cincinnati’s attack.

Miami acquired Maxwell via a trade from the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason and he started the first three games for the team before being sat against the Bengals.

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The Miami Dolphins gained 81 yards and scored a touchdown on their first two offensive plays of the night against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Their offense then went into hibernation the remainder of the night. They gained just 141 yards the rest of the night, averaging just 3.4 yards per play on their final 41 plays of the game. Ryan Tannehill passed for 189 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and had a lost fumble as well as the Dolphins lost 22-7 to the Bengals.

“One of the worst performances I’ve seen from our offense in a long time,” Tannehill said.

Through four games, the Dolphins are averaging just 17.8 points per game offensively and have a minus-5 turnover ratio. They rank 27th in points per game and 23rd in total offense.

“We have to get it fixed soon and by soon, I mean Monday,” Tannehill said. “It’s gone on too long. There’s no more excuses, no more waiting, it’s got to be important to everyone who steps on that field and we have to get it fixed right now.”

Tannehill is in his fifth season with the Dolphins. And yet, the same type of mistakes and errors show up way too frequently. As Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald notes, Trevor Siemian of the Denver Broncos passed for 312 yards and four touchdowns against the Bengals just four days ago in his third career start. And Tannehill, in his fifth season, is still remarkably inconsistent.

The play of Miami’s offensive line certainly didn’t help Thursday night in Cincinnati either. Regardless, the Dolphins have to be much better offensively and have to figure out some way to improve to remain competitive this year.

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Running back C.J. Spiller could have taken the balance of his fully-guaranteed $1.7 million salary from the Saints and waited for an inevitable injury to strike at the tailback position for a contending team in, say, late December or early January.

Spilled opted not to delay his return to the NFL, choosing to sign with the Seahawks, who have a short-term need while Thomas Rawls recovers from a leg injury.

Unless the Seahawks are paying Spiller more than $100,000 per week (and if they were, it surely would have been leaked by now), he’s essentially working for free. More importantly, he’s putting himself at risk of injury for no additional compensation.

That’s his right, but it still doesn’t mean it makes much sense. When Rawls heals, Spiller will have a hard time getting on the field — and he won’t be available if someone else with a contending team gets injured. (Unless he gets cut.) Until then, Spiller risks the kind of injury that would make him less attractive to other teams in 2017.

For now, Spiller is getting up to speed in Seattle, where everything is new. It’s so new that he doesn’t know what his role will be.

“I just got here so we haven’t really got into that I’m still swimming I guess you can say,” Spiller told reporters on Thursday. “I’m still trying to get things learned. Places learned, the meeting rooms and all that stuff. So we really haven’t gotten in depth considering I just got here on short notice.”

Seattle may indeed be the right fit for Spiller, and it could work out perfectly for him. At a time, however, when there’s a push to get players to treat football like the business that it is, it wasn’t the best business decision for Spiller to return so quickly, for no more money than he already was going to make from the Saints.

Speaking of the Saints, they’re surely happy about this development. They’ll get a dollar-for-dollar credit for Spiller’s salary in Seattle. From the Saints’ perspective, then, it was a perfect business decision.

AP

The Dolphins scored on their second offensive play Thursday night.

For the rest of the night, the Dolphins got steamrolled.

With wide receiver A.J. Green and the defensive line leading the way, the Bengals overwhelmed the Dolphins and went on to win, 22-7. Mike Nugent kicked five field goals, and the Bengals defense made it so the offense didn’t have to lament settling for those field goals.

Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw a 74-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Stills with 9:04 left in the first quarter, and the Dolphins didn’t score again. The Dolphins’ makeshift offensive line was no match for the Bengals defensive front.

It was not one that will go on the Thursday Night Football highlight reel, nor the Dolphins’ highlight reel. Tannehill was 15-of-25 for 189 yards and was sacked five times, twice by Carlos Dunlap. In the fourth quarter Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins basically threw Dolphins guard Jermon Bushrod back into Tannehill for a sack, and that summed up the night.

Eight of the Dolphins’ first nine possessions were four plays or fewer. The Bengals had the ball for 21:36 in the first half and 38:02 for the game.

The Bengals had 362 total yards. The Dolphins had 222.

Green had 10 catches for 173 yards and the game’s only touchdown. He was over 100 yards in the first half. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton was 22-of-31 for 296 yards.

The Bengals are 2-2 and are at the Cowboys on Oct. 9. The Dolphins are 1-3 and next host the Titans.

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Texans Pro Bowl defensive end J.J. Watt underwent back surgery Thursday that’s expected to keep him out for the rest of the season, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.

The Texans officially placed Watt on injured reserve Wednesday.

Watt missed all of training camp and the preseason after having surgery to repair a herniated disc in July.

The Texans are 2-1 and host the Titans Sunday.

AP

Everything has been a struggle for the Dolphins except third down defense.

The Bengals keep kicking field goals and keep feeding A.J. Green, and they lead 19-7 in the third quarter. Mike Nugent has four field goals.

The Bengals think they should have more touchdowns than the one they have, but their defense has made it so they’re comfortably in charge. Andy Dalton keeps feeding Green, who had eight catches for 123 yards in the first half and had another big catch on the Bengals’ first field goal drive of the second half.

Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill was just 3-of-9 for 83 yards in the first half despite getting 74 on his second throw, a touchdown to Kenny Stills. The Dolphins have moved the ball in the third quarter but the Bengals defense tightened and sacked Tannehill out of field goal range to end the Dolphins’ first drive.

Midway through the third quarter, Carlos Dunlap has two of the Bengals’ three sacks.

AP

The Dolphins have no answer for Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green.

Thanks to some stalled Bengals drives and timely defense, the Dolphins are still in the game. They trail at halftime, 16-7.

Mike Nugent has three field goals for the Bengals, who are angry they didn’t score a touchdown off a Carlos Dunlap strip sack late in the first half.

Green has eight catches for 123 yards. He had five for 80 yards and a touchdown on his first five targets. The Dolphins can’t stop Green but have slowed the Bengals’ run game and forced Andy Dalton to go away from Green on some third downs.

Besides a 74-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Stills on their second play and third-down defense, not much has gone right. The Bengals had the ball for nearly 22 minutes in the first half and own a huge edge (239-122) in total yardage as well.

Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill was just 3-of-9 for 83 yards despite getting 74 on his second throw.

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There are times that Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green just makes it look easy.

On the second drive Thursday night, for example.

Tightly covered along the sideline by Dolphins rookie Xavien Howard, Green just outjumped him and came down inbounds on a 51-yard gain. Two plays later Green caught a 19-yard pass from Andy Dalton, then two plays after that he caught a short pass, gave Tony Lippett a stiffarm and turned it into a 7-yard touchdown.

That score gave the Bengals a 10-7 lead late in the first quarter. Through 12 minutes, Green has five catches on five targets for 80 yards.

The Dolphins took a 7-3 lead on a 74-yard bomb from Ryan Tannehill to Kenny Stills on their second play from scrimmage.

AP

A 74-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill to Kenny Stills has given the Dolphins an early 7-3 lead on the Bengals.

The Bengals were blitzing, and it appeared Stills broke off his designed route to go deep.

The touchdown came on the Dolphins’ second play from scrimmage and marked the first time in their last eight road games that the Dolphins have scored a first quarter touchdown.

The Bengals got the ball first and put together a methodical drive that stalled out in Miami territory. Mike Nugent kicked a 42-yard field goal to open the scoring.

The Bengals announced that running back and special teams player Rex Burkhead suffered a hamstring injury on the opening kickoff. His return is doubtful.

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The NFL made it official Thursday, announcing that six-time Grammy winner Lady Gaga will headline this year’s Super Bowl halftime show.

The news had been previously reported by Sports Business Daily. Super Bowl LI is in Houston on Feb. 5.

A formal announcement that includes an interview with Lady Gaga will air this Sunday, Oct. 2, on FOX’s NFL Sunday pregame show.

Lady Gaga sang the national anthem before last year’s Super Bowl.

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Not long after announcing via a team press release that he’d be entering a treatment facility, Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon tweeted that he’s been “under some pressure and stress recently [and] had to take a time out for myself. Sometimes you have to do what’s best for you.”

Gordon also thanked the NFL and the Browns. In a separate tweet Gordon wrote, “see you soon.”

The announcement that his return, which could have happened next week, is on hold came late Thursday afternoon. On his Thursday evening radio show, Browns coach Hue Jackson said the Browns “support Gordon 100 percent.”

Jackson said “it’s unfortunate” that the Browns won’t be getting Gordon back in their lineup but said “Josh needs to do what’s best for Josh.”

As part of his conditional reinstatement, Gordon had been at the Browns facility and had been allowed to participate in team meetings while sitting out the first four games of the 2016 season.

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Left tackle Branden Albert is one of four Dolphins offensive starters inactive for Thursday night’s game at Cincinnati.

Albert had been listed as questionable with an ankle injury. Also out are tight end Jordan Cameron (concussion), center Mike Pouncey (hip) and running back Arian Foster (hamstring). Pouncey has yet to play this season, and Foster also missed last week’s game.

The Dolphins also announced Damien Williams as the starter at running back. Rookie Laremy Tunsil will move out from guard to start in place of Albert, and Billy Turner will start at Tunsil’s usual spot of left guard.

Two starting linebackers, Koa Misi (neck) and Jelani Jenkins (groin), are also out due to injuries.

Dolphins Coach Adam Gase had hinted at changes to the lineup even before injuries forced at least a few of them. As previously reported, Tony Lippett is replacing Byron Maxwell in the starting lineup at cornerback.

As expected, Bengals cornerback Darqueze Dennard will start in place of the injured Dre Kirkpatrick. The Bengals also have decided to keep tight end Tyler Eifert out at least another week. They had listed Eifert and Kirkpatrick as doubtful.