NFL’S TRADE DEADLINE DAY QUIETLY COMES AND GOES
Maybe NFL teams were just traded out. Or ran out of paperwork.
After 103 trades went down from March through Monday, only one low-level deal was executed on Tuesday by the league’s 4 p.m. EDT trade deadline.
That one saw cornerback Aqib Talib — who’s on injured reserve with a rib injury, with his career about done — sent by the Los Angeles Rams to Miami along with a fifth-round draft pick for an undisclosed future late-round pick in return.
The Rams’ motivation for the deal was strictly to shear off some needed cap space, as the Dolphins now will pay Talib the remaining US$4.2 million he’s due in 2019 salary. Talib could return from IR in Week 16, but that’s seen to be unlikely. His career is probably over.
So many of the big names that had swirled in trade speculation didn’t go anywhere.
Disgruntled holdout left tackle Trent Williams not only remains in Washington, he apparently has reported for duty.
As well, benched fifth-year quarterback Marcus Mariota remains a clipboard-holder behind Ryan Tannehill in Tennessee, cornerback Darius Slay remains in Detroit, safety Jamal Adams remains a New York Jet and running back Melvin Gordon is still a Los Angeles Charger.
Of course, a bunch of eye-opening trades already had gone down this month, led by Jacksonville sending Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Rams.
NOT SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Midway through your ninth NFL season, you’re benched. Happy birthday, Andy Dalton!
The Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday announced that Dalton will no longer be the club’s starting quarterback to make way for rookie Ryan Finley.
The Bengals selected the N.C. State product in Round 4 (104th overall) of the NFL Draft in
April. The 24-year-old Finley was the sixth passer drafted, after Kyler Murray (Oklahoma), Daniel Jones (Duke) and Dwayne Haskins (Washington) in the first round, Drew Lock (Denver) in the second round and Will Grier (Carolina) in the third.
It’s not that Dalton had been playing poorly or was one of the reasons for the Bengals’ 0-8 start under rookie head coach Zac Taylor.
If anything, Dalton had been keeping the talent-bereft Bengals in games, probably long past the point they rightfully should have still been in them. Indeed, he nearly willed the team to late victories — such as at Seattle (21-20 loss), at Buffalo (21-17), vs. Arizona (26-23) and at Baltimore (23-17).
“It was not an easy decision to make. Very hard,” Taylor said. “Andy and I had had a lot of conversations over the last couple of weeks — not about this — but just trying to make this offence get going, and this team get going. He has put his heart and soul into getting this thing right.
“The hard thing now is, when you’re 0-8 and you make a quarterback switch, people tend to look at the quarterback and say, ‘He was the problem.’ And that’s the farthest thing from the truth.”
Then why the switch? And why now?
Because, Taylor said, for the club to get a sense of Finley’s abilities they need to play him not just in one game, but in a bunch. Also, this week is the Bengals’ bye week.
“And so now if you’re going to make that decision, you give
Ryan a little bit more time to grasp it and get ready for the next opponent. I don’t think there’s ever a good time.”
Dalton leads the league this season in pass completions (204) and attempts (338) and is fourth in passing yards (2,252). He turned 32 on Tuesday. In nine seasons with the Bengals, Dalton has a career passer rating of 88.0, a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 197-112 and a 62.2 completion percentage. The Texas native has thrown for 30,352 yards, which ranks 46th in league annals.
He is 68-58-2 (.539) as a starter in the regular season and 0-4 in playoff games.
Dalton was not made available to the media on Tuesday. What was his reaction upon hearing the news from Taylor?
“It’s hard to hear, if you’re him,” Taylor said. “He took it like a professional. But he’ll be back tomorrow when we’re ready to start practise, and he’ll be the backup, and he’ll be ready to help Ryan and he’ll still be a leader for us.”
CHARGERS ELEVATE TORONTO’S CAMPBELL
The Los Angeles Chargers on Tuesday promoted Toronto native Tevaughn Campbell from the practice squad to the active roster.
Following four years in the CFL with the Calgary Stampeders, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal Alouettes, Campbell had spent the spring and summer trying out unsuccessfully with the New York Jets.
The Chargers signed the 26-year-old to their practice squad in mid September.
Should he be among the 46 players the Chargers choose to dress on Sunday from their 53-man active roster, Campbell would make his NFL debut against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.