Raiders have talks about playing in Oakland in 2019
Texans release injured WR Thomas; DL prospect tears ACL
ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Raiders have had their first talks about returning for one final season in Oakland since the city filed suit over the team’s planned move to Las Vegas, Nev.
Oakland Coliseum executive director Scott McKibben said Tuesday that he met with Raiders president Marc Badain last week about a lease for 2019. McKibben called the meeting “meaningful and productive” but gave no other details.
The two sides had been discussing a $7.5 million lease for 2019 until the Raiders walked away from negotiations when Oakland sued the team and the NFL in December.
The Raiders have no lease for 2019, their final season before moving into a new $1.8 billion, 65,000-seat stadium in Las Vegas. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said the team needs to make a decision soon so the league can make a schedule.
The Raiders had talks about sharing a stadium with the San Francisco Giants, but that was opposed by the 49ers. The Raiders also could look into sharing Levi’s Stadium with the 49ers, although owner Mark Davis has been opposed to that option.
TEXANS: Houston released veteran wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, whose 2018 season ended prematurely when he tore his left Achilles tendon.
Thomas played seven games for Houston last season, making 23 receptions for 275 yards and two touchdowns. He was acquired in October from Denver for a fourth-round draft pick to fill in after Will Fuller tore a knee ligament. The Texans and Broncos also switched seventh-round selections for this year’s draft.
Thomas talked about his future the day after Houston’s season ended with a loss to the Colts in the wild-card game last month and said he hopes to play again after he recovers from his injury.
“I still can play, man,” he said. “I’m not even thinking about retirement.”
The injury occurred in Houston’s next-to-last game. He would have made $14 million in the upcoming season, the last of his contract signed with the Broncos.
SIMMONS: Mississippi State defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons tore the ACL in his left knee while working out in Florida last weekend.
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Simmons, a potential first-round pick in April’s NFL draft, released a statement on Twitter on Tuesday. He said he was going through position drills while training in Boca Raton, Fla., when the injury occurred. He said he will have surgery early next week. Simmons recently earned third-team AP All-America honors after finishing his junior season with 63 tackles, including 17 for a loss. He also had seven quarterback hurries.
Simmons was arrested before he came to Mississippi State in 2016 following a fight in which he was caught on video standing over a woman and punching her. He eventually was found guilty of malicious mischief and pleaded no contest to a simple assault charge.
NFL COMBINE: The NFL combine will be televised on broadcast TV for the first time.
ABC will be presenting a two-hour special on March 2 from Indianapolis that will feature drills by quarterbacks and wide receivers.
The combine workouts run from March 1-4 and also will be televised by NFL Network.
ABC also will combine with ESPN to televise all three days of the draft April 25-27 from Nashville, Tenn. CHIEFS: Emmitt Thomas announced his retirement Tuesday as the team’s defensive backs coach, ending an NFL career that began as a Hall of Fame player and wound up spanning five decades.
Thomas spent 13 seasons playing for the Chiefs, helping the organization to a pair of Super Bowl appearances and their only championship in 1970. The two-time All-Pro retired in 1978 and began coaching at Central Missouri State before moving onto the pros with the St. Louis Cardinals. He helped the Redskins win a pair of Super Bowls, and also worked for the Eagles, Packers, Vikings and Falcons, before returning to Kansas City in 2010.
“My journey started in Kansas City, and by the grace of God I am able to end my NFL career here as well,” said Thomas, who was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008.
BILLS: Buffalo has begun addressing its offensive line needs by signing Spencer Long to a three-year contract. The addition made on Tuesday comes a week after the New York Jets cut Long to free up nearly $6.5 million from next season’s salary cap.
Long, 28, has 44 starts in 53 career games over five seasons. He spent his first four seasons in Washington, which drafted him in 2014 out of Nebraska.