NFL notebook: Browns GM would consider trading top pick
— The Sports Xchange —
New Cleveland Browns general manager John Dorsey said he will listen to trade offers for the No. 1 pick in this year’s NFL Draft.
The Browns are expected to pick a quarterback with that top overall selection, but Dorsey is not closing the door on a deal.
“There’s a lot of things I can do with No. 1, and not just get a quarterback as well,” Dorsey told reporters Thursday at the Scouting Combine. “My door is wide open. If somebody wants to come up and talk to me about a trade, I’m willing to trade. But also I’m going to do what’s best for this organization, and I will do that.
Dorsey is not actively seeking to trade that pick, but said he would listen to offers.
“Any good GM wants to field phone calls from all his peers, so why wouldn’t I?” he said.
The Browns also own the fourth overall pick, so they might be able to get the quarterback of their choice with that selection.
–Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly announced that he is battling oral cancer yet again.
Kelly, who declared two years ago that he was cancer free, released a statement confirming that it has returned.
Kelly, 58, was at Super Bowl LII last month before having his gallbladder removed the following week.
–The Los Angeles Rams are expected to trade or release wide receiver Tavon Austin before the start of the league year, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported.
Austin hasn’t been overly productive since signing a four-year, $42 million contract extension in 2016. He reeled in 13 receptions for just 47 yards and zero touchdowns last season while adding 270 rushing yards and a score for the Rams.
–Los Angeles Chargers defensive tackle Joey Bosa recently underwent surgery to repair a dislocated finger on his right hand.
Bosa suffered the injury as a rookie and played the entire 2017 season with it. The recovery time is expected to be six weeks, ESPN reported.
–Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman has now had surgery on both Achilles tendons in the past several months.
He had surgery on his right Achilles tendon after he tore it during the Nov. 9 game against the Arizona Cardinals, ending his season.
Recently, he underwent a procedure on his left Achilles as well.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll called Sherman’s recent surgery a “minor” procedure, although he told Gregg Bell of the Tacoma News Tribune that it is “a bit of a setback” to his rehab. Sherman now has a boot on the left foot.
–New York Jets safety Marcus Maye underwent arthroscopic surgery on his ankle after the season, according to a published report.
Maye sustained the injury during the Jets’ season finale against the New England Patriots. The New York Daily News reported that Maye had the surgery and is already running, well ahead of the team’s offseason program.
–The Indianapolis Colts are ready to part ways with running back Frank Gore.
General manager Chris Ballard met with Gore and told the soon-to-be 35-year-old that the Colts do not plan to re-sign him.
Gore, who said he planned to play in 2018, rushed for 961 yards last season and 2,953 yards and 13 touchdowns while starting all 48 games during his three years with the Colts.
–New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton is “confident” a deal with starting quarterback Drew Brees will be completed soon.
“I don’t see that being a long, drawn-out process, and I think we’ve been here before,” Payton said at the NFL Combine on Thursday, per the Times-Picayune of New Orleans. “I think that’s going to get done fairly smoothly.”
Brees signed a five-year contract extension worth an average of $24.5 million per season that can be voided on March 14, making the 39-year-old an unrestricted free agent.
–The Seattle Seahawks are attempting to trade veteran defensive end Michael Bennett, according to ESPN.
The 32-year-old Bennett has made the Pro Bowl in each of the past three seasons and is coming off an 8.5-sack campaign despite a toe injury.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll shed little light on the team’s plans for Bennett while speaking with reporters at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
“I haven’t talked to Mike in a while now,” said Carroll, per the News-Tribune of Tacoma, “but it’s the time of year, conversations going in all directions.”
–The first athletic testing of the 2018 NFL Combine resulted in a potentially serious injury to Ohio State’s two-time All-American center Billy Price.
Price abruptly stopped his bench press session after his third repetition, grimacing in obvious discomfort and reaching toward his left shoulder. The early speculation was that Price may have suffered an injury to his pectoral muscle.
The injury is not believed to be serious.
Price is rated the 16th-best overall prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.
–New England Patriots rookie offensive tackle Antonio Garcia was placed on the non-football illness list before the start of the 2017 regular season and he never made it to the field.
The reason for the move was finally disclosed Thursday. Garcia was dealing with blood clots in his lungs, the Boston Herald reported, citing a source.
A third-round draft pick out of Troy, Garcia was placed on blood thinners and lost at least 40 pounds, according to the newspaper.
Expected to make a full recovery, Garcia has resumed workouts in an effort to regain his weight and strength, although there is no timetable for a possible return to the field.
–Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden squashed speculation that the team is looking to deal safety Su’a Cravens.
“We’re not trading him,” said Gruden, per the Washington Post. “He’s still a member of this football team and we have every intention of seeing where he’s at. I’ll have to talk to him and see where he’s at mentally.”
Cravens was rumored to be the subject of trade talks between the Redskins and Denver Broncos on Wednesday, according to a report by the NFL Network.
–Cleveland Browns coach Hue Jackson is eager to see what wide receiver Josh Gordon can do over a full season — and possibly well beyond that.
Gordon returned to the Browns for the final five games of the 2017 season after sitting out the previous two seasons following multiple suspensions for repeated violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy.
“Josh has been great. Josh has been outstanding,” Jackson told the Akron Beacon-Journal at Thursday’s NFL Combine. “He’s having a really good offseason. Obviously, he’s got to continue to do so and continue to do the right things, but I truly believe that Josh Gordon is going to have a great year for us.”
–Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Dante Fowler pleaded no contest to charges of battery, criminal mischief and petty theft as a result of an incident in a parking lot in July, TMZ reported.
Fowler avoided possible jail time with his plea to the three misdemeanors, although he is still subject to possible discipline by the NFL.
The Tampa Bay Times reported the incident began after a man complained to Fowler about his driving. It led to an argument, and Fowler subsequently hit the other man, stepped on his glasses and took the man’s bag of groceries and threw it into a lake.
Fowler was sentenced to 12 months’ probation, 75 hours of community service and more than $1,000 in fines.
–Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones pleaded no contest to a marijuana-related charge stemming from an incident in Green Bay in October.
Jones had two charges against him dropped after agreeing to the no-contest plea of driving with a controlled substance in his system, USA Today reported.
Charges of speeding and operating without a license were dismissed, although Jones had his license suspended for six months, was fined $1,047 and ordered to undergo an alcohol assessment, according to court records.
The 23-year-old Jones is still subject to possible discipline by the NFL.
–Former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth has elected against pursuing a relationship with his son after being released from prison later this year.
Carruth wrote in a letter to the Charlotte Observer that he will not pursue custody of Chancellor Lee Adams, who lives in Charlotte (N.C.) under the care of his maternal grandmother, Saundra Adams. Carruth’s letter comes a few weeks after he wrote WBTV in Charlotte, saying he planned to pursue custody of his 18-year-old son.
Scheduled to be released on Oct. 22, Carruth has spent the past 17 years in Sampson Correctional Institution in Clinton, N.C. He was found guilty in 2001 for conspiracy to murder his pregnant girlfriend in 1999.
Cherica Adams died in the hospital after being shot multiple times by Van Brett Watkins, who was hired by Carruth. She was seven months pregnant with Chancellor, who as a result of the shooting was born prematurely. He has cerebral palsy.
