Tag: Joe Schobert

Broncos LB Jonas Griffith expected to miss 4-6 weeks with elbow injury

Broncos linebacker Jonas Griffith is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a dislocated elbow.

Denver Broncos inside linebacker Jonas Griffith suffered an injury on the first series of the team’s preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday evening and he appeared to be in serious pain. The linebacker was favoring his left arm as he left the field and the Broncos quickly ruled him out with a left elbow injury.

After the game, Griffith told KMGH-TV‘s Troy Renck that he dislocated his elbow during Denver’s 17-7 win over the Cowboys. The timeline for Griffith’s recovery is expected to be 4-6 weeks, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis.

A four-week recovery could see Griffith return in time for the team’s regular-season opener against the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 12. A six-week recovery would force Griffith to miss at least the first two games of the season before potentially returning in Week 3 or 4.

Griffith is a projected starter, so the Broncos now need a short-term replacement to play next to Josey Jewell on defense. The top in-house candidate is Alex Singleton, but Denver will undoubtedly add more depth.

Roquan Smith has asked the Chicago Bears to trade him, but the Broncos are hoping to acquire more draft picks for 2023, and they probably don’t want to lose more draft capital in another trade. Denver also needs to have salary cap space available for a Russell Wilson extension, so trading for Smith seems unlikely.

More realistically, the Broncos will likely turn to free agency to find a temporary replacement for Griffith. Denver tried to sign Anthony Barr earlier this month, but Dallas beat them to the linebacker’s signature. Before that, the Broncos worked out former Pro Bowler Joe Schobert, who remains a free agent.

Alexander Johnson, a former Denver starter, is also available. Johnson and Schobert are two players to keep an eye on in the coming days.

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Cowboys beat Broncos to signing Anthony Barr

The Broncos were also in play to sign Anthony Barr, but the linebacker chose the Cowboys instead.

The Denver Broncos appear to be looking for help at inside linebacker.

Anthony Barr signed a one-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted that the Broncos were also attempting to sign the veteran linebacker.

NFLN’s Mike Garafolo added that “Barr’s connection to George Paton had him in play“ with Denver, but he ultimately chose Dallas. Barr played under Paton with the Minnesota Vikings from 2014-2020.

The Broncos previously brought in veteran free agent Joe Schobert for a tryout last weekend. Denver’s interest in Barr and Schobert seems to be a sign that Paton and Co. aren’t satisfied with the team’s linebacker depth.

Right now, Josey Jewell and Jonas Griffith are the projected starters at inside linebacker with Alex Singleton, Justin Strnad and Barrington Wade among the players competing for the backup spots.

When teams begin cutting players later this month, linebacker will be a position to watch on the waiver wire if the Broncos haven’t brought in someone before then.

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Free agent LB Joe Schobert tries out for Broncos

Joe Schobert is a former Pro Bowler with 10+ sacks, interceptions and forced fumbles on his resume.

The Denver Broncos brought in free agent linebacker Joe Schobert for a tryout on Saturday, according to the NFL’s transaction wire.

Schobert (6-1, 240 pounds) is a former fourth-round draft pick who began his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns in 2016. After four years in Cleveland, Schobert spent one year with the Jacksonville Jaguars and then one season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Schobert had a career year with the Browns in 2017, earning a Pro Bowl nod after totaling 144 tackles, six quarterback hits, four pass breakups, three forced fumbles and one interception in his first season as a full-time starter.

Schobert remained a starter for two years with the Browns after that before going on to later start 16 games for the Jags in 2020 and 15 games with the Steelers last year. In 93 career games (80 starts), Schobert has totaled 661 tackles, 30 pass breakups, 26 quarterback hits, 11 sacks, 10 interceptions and 10 forced fumbles.

The Broncos seem to be looking for more depth and competition at inside linebacker. If signed, Schobert has the resume to compete for a starting job next to Josey Jewell. Right now, second-year defender Jonas Griffith and special teams ace Alex Singleton are competing at inside linebacker.

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Two former Browns defenders take visits with Denver, Dallas

Two former Browns defenders, one of which the team might want to bring back later, took visits with other teams on Saturday:

The Cleveland Browns have made some wholesale changes to their team over the last few years under GM Andrew Berry. In his first offseason, the offense got a lot of attention with the other side being the focus in 2021. This offseason has been a little more balanced.

Two former Browns defenders showed up on the NFL’s personnel log after taking visits.

Last year’s rotational defensive end Takk McKinley visited the Dallas Cowboys. Coming off of a late-season Achilles injury, it is unknown when McKinley may be able to work out for teams. Earlier this offseason, it was reported a return to Cleveland was possible.

Given his rehab process, it is no surprise that the Cowboys didn’t sign the former first-round pick after his visit and now he’ll head to Arizona:

Former Browns linebacker Joe Schobert took a visit to the Denver Broncos and tried out for the team. After four years with the team that drafted him, Berry allowed Schobert to move on in free agency in 2020. He signed a five-year, $53.75 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

He lasted on year in Jacksonville before being traded to Pittsburgh for a sixth-round pick. The Jaguars picked up a big chunk of Schobert’s contract to get the deal done.

In 2021, he played in 84% of the Steelers defensive snaps compiling 112 tackles but only two tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one quarterback hit.

Given Cleveland’s drafting of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, bringing back Anthony Walker Jr. and high hopes for Jacob Phillips, a return doesn’t seem likely for the former fourth-round pick.

Jags have 12th highest dead cap figure this season

The Jags are set to enter the season with a dead cap figure just over $23 million, which is the 12th highest currently.

The Jacksonville Jaguars aren’t unfamiliar with dead cap charges occupying their cap space with notables like quarterback Nick Foles being traded in 2020 just one year after signing with the team on a four-year deal. They also released Blake Bortles early into his second contract, which put the Jags in a situation where they took on a $16.5 million dead cap hit in 2019.

When it comes to the 2022 season, though, the Jags currently have the 12th highest dead cap figure (just over $23 million), according to Over the Cap. And while it would be great for that figure to be lower, it’s far from the figure that the Atlanta Falcons hold, standing atop the list with a $63.2 million figure due to the Matt Ryan trade.

When breaking down the Jags’ current projected dead cap figure, there are eight players who the Jags are paying that aren’t on the team. The one who carries the highest figure is former linebacker Joe Schobert (just over $9.9 million), who the Jags traded to Pittsburgh last season.

As for the rest of the list, it includes other notables like linebacker Myles Jack and C.J. Henderson, along with a few others who have cap hit figures that aren’t major.

Position Player Dead cap hit
LB Joe Schobert $9,937,500
CB C.J. Henderson $6,240,432
LB Myles Jack $4,800,000
K  Josh Lambo $875,000
RB  Carlos Hyde $450,000
LB Quincy Williams $205,545
WR Collin Johnson $153,576
WR Jalen Camp $123,219

The good news is that the Jags currently don’t have any dead cap money on their books for next season — at least for now. Time will tell if that changes, but the team appears to be on the right track when it comes to having a healthier dead cap figure than in the past and present.

Former Saints OL Senio Kelemete among 4 tryout free agents at minicamp

Senio Kelemete has started games at left guard, right guard, right tackle, and left tackle for the Saints. And he’s among 4 tryout free agents at minicamp this week:

It’s not unusual for NFL teams to bring in veteran free agents for tryouts during their late-spring minicamp practice sessions, but it’s cool to see a familiar face on the New Orleans Saints practice field. Former Saints offensive lineman Senio Kelemete was one of four tryout players in attendance for Tuesday’s minicamp practice, finally making his return to the team where his NFL career took off. Of course he hasn’t signed back with New Orleans (none of these four free agents have, yet) but he’d be a welcome addition to the offensive line.

Let’s recap where Kelemete’s career has taken him, and run through the list of other players New Orleans brought in for a look this week:

Report: Free agent linebacker Joe Schobert visiting the Saints

Free agent linebacker Joe Schobert is visiting the Saints. The 2017 Pro Bowler and former teammate of Jarvis Landry could add a lot to the LB room:

This is interesting: the New Orleans Saints are hosting veteran linebacker Joe Schobert on a free agent visit, as first reported by NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill. The 2017 Pro Bowler started for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars the last two years after starting his career with the Cleveland Browns, where he was teammates with Saints free agent pickup Jarvis Landry.

Linebacker isn’t seen as a high-priority need for the Saints right now given how well Demario Davis has played in recent years and the strong expectations Pete Werner earned off of limited snaps as a rookie, but Schobert could add some experience and playmaking ability to the group. New Orleans rarely fields more than two linebackers at a time, but the slow development of 2020 draft pick Zack Baun does open an opportunity for Schobert to get snaps somewhere.

It’s unclear what sort of contract Schobert is looking for, though he’s unlikely to break the bank (he played on the veteran’s minimum salary for Pittsburgh last season). With former Saints linebacker Kwon Alexander still unsigned in free agency, it’s possible the team is looking at other options before settling for a player they already know well. This could also be a move to pressure Alexander’s agent into signing off on an offer from New Orleans by showing their willingness to go in a different direction. In any case, it seems clear we should expect an addition to the linebacker corps sooner or later.

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Nick Herbig was the highest-graded Wisconsin edge rusher ever by PFF in 2021

PFF ranks the high-graded Wisconsin Edge Rushers:

On Thursday afternoon, Pro Football Focus College tweeted out their ranking for the top three Wisconsin edge rushers with the highest pass-rush grades in a season and several very familiar Badgers made the cut.

Related: Wisconsin RB Braelon Allen led all Big Ten running backs in this stat in 2021

Wisconsin outside linebacker Nick Herbig led all Badgers’ edge rushers with a 91.4 grade after a phenomenal season in 2021. Herbig finished last year with 61 total tackles, nine sacks, four pass deflections and a forced fumble. The rising junior was ranked ahead of former Wisconsin and current NFL outside linebackers, Joe Schobert and T.J. Watt.

After a phenomenal sophomore season, it will be exciting to see what Herbig can do with the keys to the Badgers’ defense this season.

5 Remaining free agents that just make sense for the Lions

The free agent market isn’t strong but there are still some players out there who might help Detroit

As the 2022 NFL draft has passed us by, and the early stages of free agency are in the rearview mirror, remaining free agents will be awaiting calls from a slew of teams, now that they don’t account into the 2023 compensatory pick formula, post-draft.

The Detroit Lions had a sneaky excellent offseason that should make them a much-improved team in 2022. Take a look at the additions the Detroit Lions made through the NFL Draft and Free Agency (excluding UDFAs)

2022 Additions: DJ Chark, Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams, DeShon Elliot, Mike Huges, Garrett Griffin, Chris Board, Joshua Paschal, Kerby Joseph, James Mitchell, Malcolm Rodriguez, James Houston, and Chase Lucas

But with all of this behind us, there are still some talented veteran free agents on the market. Here’s a look at some of the better fits for this roster, and why they just make too much sense. Detroit still struggles to attract big-name free agents, but in 2022, with this improved roster, we may finally see people wanting to become a part of One Pride.

Myles Jack acquisition forecasts release of LB Joe Schobert

Well… it was (not) good while it lasted. 

Well… it was (not) good while it lasted.

With the recent news the Pittsburgh Steelers are signing linebacker Myles Jack, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac reports that the team will release linebacker Joe Schobert.

According to Over the Cap, the potential move would clear $7.834 million in cap space, though the Steelers would still be on the hook for $1.416 million in dead money. Schobert’s 2022 cap number is $9.722 million.

Schobert played in all 16 games logging 112 tackles (two for loss), one quarterback hit, a forced fumble and one interception.

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