The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Patriots acquire Mingo in deal with Browns
The Cleveland Browns traded disappointing linebacker Barkevious Mingo to the New England Patriots in exchange for a 2017 fifth-round pick. The Browns selected Mingo with the No. 6 pick in 2013.
The Cleveland Browns have traded disappointing linebacker Barkevious Mingo to the New England Patriots in exchange for a 2017 fifth-round pick.
The teams announced the deal on Thursday.
The Browns selected Mingo with the No. 6 pick in 2013. The former LSU standout has recorded just seven sacks in three seasons and spent much of last season on special teams.
Mingo’s size — 6-foot-4, 240 pounds — and speed have made him intriguing, but none of Cleveland’s coaching staff has found the best way to utilize him. The Browns moved the 25-yearold Mingo from outside linebacker to inside earlier this summer.
Cleveland declined to exercise the fifth-year option on Mingo’s rookie contract in May. With the trade of Mingo, left tackle Joe Thomas and cornerbacks Joe Haden and Justin Gilbert are the only firstround selections by Cleveland from 2007 to 2014 that are still with the team.
The Browns now own Philadelphia’s 2017 firstround pick, Tennessee’s 2017 second-round pick, New England’s 2017 fifthround pick, Indianapolis’ 2017 seventh-round pick and Philadelphia’s 2018 second-round pick. Cleveland has conditionally surrendered its 2017 fourth-round pick to Philadelphia and its 2017 sixth- or seventh-round pick to San Francisco.
It is the second move New England has made this week after dealing center Bryan Stork to Washington.
PED investigation
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and Green Bay Packers defensive players Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers met this week with NFL investigators looking into allegations linking them to performance-enhancing drugs, the players’ union said Thursday.
Matthews and Peppers met with league representatives on Wednesday, while Harrison did so on Thursday, according to the NFL Players Association.
Last week, the league threatened Harrison, Matthews, Peppers and free agent Mike Neal with indefinite suspensions if they did not meet with investigators. All of them were mentioned in an Al-Jazeera television interview with Charlie Sly, who worked as an intern at an anti-aging clinic. In the December report, Sly made claims of PED use by several athletes, including Harrison, Peyton Manning and the three others, but later recanted his claims.
Helmet thief
Sheriff’s investigators are crying foul after an illegal handoff at the Denver Broncos practice facility.
Julie Brooks, a spokeswoman for the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, tells The Denver Post a “brazen” thief carrying a bright orange cowboy hat stole a team helmet worth $400 during a crowded autograph session after practice July 31.
The man was in a group of people interacting with the player when he stole the helmet and passed it off to a second man wearing a No. 18 jersey.
The player, who has not been identified, had set the helmet down on the ground next to him.
Investigators are reviewing photos taken of the suspects, but no one has been arrested.
Vegas stadium
Backers of a proposed NFL stadium said they’ve whittled their list to two sites just west of the Las Vegas Strip and refuse to accept any less than $750 million in public funding toward the project, which they hope will soon be home to the Raiders.
Representatives from Majestic Realty and the Las Vegas Sands casino company updated an oversight committee Thursday on their quest to build a 65,000seat domed stadium, showing off their slick renderings of the proposed venue in a video with an edgy soundtrack. They said the price tag continues to rise and is now $1.9 billion, and said they’d walk away from the project if state lawmakers don’t meet their minimum financial demand.
“Not to be difficult, but we’re not negotiable,” said Sands President Rob Goldstein, who spoke on behalf of billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his family. “If we can’t get 750, we respectfully thank you but we’re going to move on.”
Zika control
The Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins say they’ve intensified mosquito-control treatments at their stadiums because of the Zika virus.
The Dolphins’ stadium is more than 10 miles from the nearest area of the virus outbreak. Even so, the Dolphins say they decided weeks ago to undertake additional treatments as a precaution.
Construction workers are at the site daily completing the latest phase in a $500 million renovation. The first home preseason game is next Thursday against Tennessee.