Rams bolster ‘D’; Packers trade Montgomery
The NFL’s lone undefeated team has just made an already dominant defensive front even deeper.
The Los Angeles Rams swapped a pair of draft picks for Jaguars pass rusher Dante Fowler on Tuesday, adding the third overall pick in 2015 to a defense already stocked with Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, Michael Brockers and Mark Barron for the most surprising move at the NFL trade deadline.
The Packers made a couple of moves, trading away Ty Montgomery two days after his late fumble on a kickoff kept Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers from a late chance to hand the Rams their first loss this season.
Green Bay sent the running back and kick returner to Baltimore for a seventh-round pick. A third-round pick in 2015 out of Stanford, Montgomery has 1,676 yards from scrimmage for his career.
The Packers also sent safety Ha Ha ClintonDix to Washington for a fourth-round draft pick in 2019.
Denver sent wide receiver Demaryius Thomas to Houston in a deal giving the Broncos some salary cap relief, and Philadelphia gave Carson Wentz another target picking up receiver Golden Tate from Detroit.
The Rams gave up a third-round pick in 2019 and a fifth-rounder in 2020 for Fowler, who is a free agent at the end of this season. Fowler became expendable with Yannick Ngakoue’s success, and the Jaguars already opted in 2017 not to pick up the fifth-year option on Fowler’s rookie deal.
Fowler has two sacks in seven games while playing behind Ngakoue.
With the Broncos at 3-5, Denver general manager John Elway made a move to clear both some salary cap space and more playing time for some of his younger receivers. Thomas has a salary cap figure of $15.53 million for 2019, the last year of his deal, while rookies Courtland Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton and second-year Tim Patrick are much cheaper.
The Texans (5-3) have won five straight to take the lead in the AFC South and had to replace Will Fuller who tore a knee ligament in a win over Miami last week. Houston sent a 2019 fourth-round pick to Denver with the teams swapping seventh-rounders in next year’s draft.
• The NFL has suspended Seattle Seahawks linebacker Mychal Kendricks for eight games for his role in an insider trading scheme. Kendricks pleaded guilty in September to one count of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. He faces up to 25 years in prison when sentenced in December.
• Derek Anderson has been diagnosed with a concussion, leaving open the possibility of the Buffalo Bills starting Nathan Peterman against the Chicago Bears this weekend. The Bills signed free agent receiver Terrelle Pryor in a bid to bolster the offense, but Pryor also has experience playing quarterback at Ohio State and with the Raiders, which could prove important in the event of an emergency.
• The Seattle Seahawks released wide receiver Brandon Marshall