INDIANAPOLIS – Don’t count on B.J. Raji to help bolster the Green Bay Packers’ defense.
The former Pro Bowl defensive tackle has not shown any interest in returning to the NFL one year after he decided to take what he called a “hiatus” from the game at age 29.
“When he made the decision it was to go home and take care of his family and be with them, and he’s still doing that,” Raji’s agent, Brian Murphy, told ESPN.com Thursday at the NFL scouting combine. “His family is his first priority. He hasn’t really thought about football.”
Former Packer B.J. Raji still has no plans to return to football. AP Photo/Tom DiPace
“We were pretty fired up about the deal,” Murphy recalled. “We were calling B.J. to tell him about and it, he said, ‘This is probably a good time to tell you that I’m probably not going to play football.’ I thought he was kidding. And then he started telling me all the details and it made sense.”
Murphy said Raji’s mother and aunt both have battled illnesses, and his client wanted to help his elderly father care for them.
“He wanted to take care of them, and I think that’s a tribute to him,” Murphy said. “That’s still where his focus is.”
Packers coach Mike McCarthy said several members of the organization have kept in touch with Raji, but there has been no indication he plans to return.
“They’d like to have him back,” Murphy said.
When asked whether that could ever happen, Murphy said: “I really don’t know. I was surprised when he decided to stop playing.”
Raji, the ninth pick in the 2009 draft, played in 91 games for the Packers and made the Pro Bowl in 2011. He came back in 2015 after he missed all of 2014 with a torn biceps. Raji made more than $26 million in seven NFL seasons, all with the Packers, who drafted nose tackle Kenny Clark in the first round last year to help offset the loss of Raji.
ALAMEDA, Calif. – Derek Carr’s initial plan was to ramp up his rehab from his broken right fibula in time to play in the Super Bowl, had the Oakland Raiders advanced that far in the NFL’s postseason tournament.
But when the Raiders fell at the Houston Texans in the opening weekend of the playoffs, Carr’s comeback took a more timely approach, though Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said at the NFL combine in Indianapolis on Thursday that his quarterback was on track for next season.
“He’s doing well,” Del Rio told ESPN’s Matt Barrie. “Yeah, Derek is healing, and we’re happy about that. He’s obviously a very vital piece of what we do and … we’re happy about the way things are coming along.”
Del Rio was asked how Carr’s ascent played a part in the Raiders’ revival, from an 0-10 start in 2014 to starting out 12-3 in 2016.
“Well, it’s been tremendous for us,” Del Rio said. “I think finding that trigger man is so huge for you and one of the things that we’ve done is we’ve played to the talent that he does have. So some of the things that he did in college, we’ve integrated into the offense and how we approach it.”
The Raiders have every reason to believe Derek Carr will be 100 percent in short order from the broken leg that knocked him out for the season in Game 15. Brian Bahr/Getty Images
Carr, who finished tied for third in NFL MVP voting, passed for 3,937 yards while completing 63.8 percent of his passes in 15 games. He also had 28 touchdown passes and six interceptions for a passer rating of 96.7 with seven come-from-behind drives in the fourth quarter or overtime.
In an interview with Sirius XM this week, Carr said he looked forward to coming back with his “hair on fire” in Oakland.
“We’re really close,” Carr said. “It feels good, obviously, I still have a little bit of the process to go, so I won’t put a number on it … I’ll never put a number on it, but I can assure you I’ll be back 100 percent, ready to go, and we’re almost there.”
Carr also acknowledged after the season he had suffered a fracture in his right (passing) finger on a mistimed snap in Week 12. It was called a dislocation at the time.
With both the finger and leg, broken in Week 16, healing, Carr said he wants to participate in the Raiders offseason program, which begins April 17. Rookie minicamp is scheduled for May 5-7 with OTAs on May 23-25, May 30-June 1 and June 5-June 8 and mandatory minicamp June 13-15.
“My goal is to make sure there’s no lingering effects of anything,” Carr said. “Now it’s just going to be up to what the team and myself, getting together, what we think is the best plan. There’s nothing holding me back physically. We’re just trying to be smart in the way we do it. You don’t want anything to push it back a couple weeks just because maybe we rushed a certain thing.
“We’ve taken this process as slow as possible ever since our team got knocked out of the playoffs. We’re going to continue to do that, but I fully expect to be out there with my teammates when everything starts up.”
With McGloin a free agent, might Oakland look to land another backup quarterback this offseason with Todd Downing promoted from QBs coach to offensive coordinator?
“It’s possible,” Del Rio said in his podium news conference. “I think for us, we want to develop Connor Cook first as our backup quarterback. He’s the guy we know we have now. There’s always competition in this league. I wouldn’t close the door there either and say that we wouldn’t make it competitive for him.
“But, he did a pretty solid job developing throughout the year, and I thought Todd did a great job of that. And even though, you’ll just look at the numbers and say, ‘What do you mean?’ We saw development throughout the year, maturity, the way he prepares, the way he conducts himself, all the little nuances of playing the position. So, there was growth throughout the year, so we want to continue to develop, continue to grow him and then we always have our eyes open and we’ll consider other possible talents.”
The last time the New York Jets went to the scouting combine with this much uncertainty at quarterback was 2009, when there was a three-month period between Brett Favre’s departure and Mark Sanchez’s arrival.
Right now, the only two quarterbacks under contract are Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg. Translation: They need a starter.
Bryce Petty is the only QB under contract with the Jets who has played in an NFL game. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Speaking to reporters Thursday at the combine, coach Todd Bowles said both players will have an opportunity to compete for the No. 1 job.
“They’ll have a chance,” said Bowles, providing no explanation.
Frankly, that sounds like lip service from a notoriously tight-lipped coach. It’s hard to imagine Petty (four career starts) or Hackenberg (zero career snaps) as the opening-day starter, but Bowles wasn’t about to tip his hand with free agency only a week away.
Asked if he will sign a free agent, Bowles said, “We’re looking into it. We have our eye on a few people.”
Free agent Alshon Jeffery is looking to sign with a contender, the wide receiver told ESPN’s Josina Anderson on Thursday.
Jeffery, 27, is poised to test the free-agent market after the Chicago Bears declined to apply the franchise tag. The Bears would have been on the hook for approximately $17.5 million guaranteed in 2017 had they exercised the tag for a second straight year.
“I don’t have any hard feelings towards the Bears — it’s all love,” Jeffery said. “Whatever the next chapter is, I’m ready for it. I’m looking at the teams that obviously need a wide receiver, but also put me in the best situation to win a championship right now. I also want to see what other free agents may be attracted to the same teams I’ll be looking at. That can help that goal.”
General manager Ryan Pace said the Bears are interested in re-signing Jeffery when the new league year begins, but two sides did not discuss any parameters of a long-term agreement following the 2016 season. Chicago is expected to meet with Jeffery’s agent at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.
The Bears do have exclusive negotiating rights with Jeffery until March 7, but a deal will not get done before free agency begins.
“Well, I’d say he knows us better than anybody else he could potentially go to,” Bears coach John Fox said at the combine. “I think it’s a positive feeling. With typically these things, it comes down to the market value. It’s like walking into a store right now at this time of year and there are no price tags. We kind of develop that moving forward. My experience has been that’s a very fluid process.”
Jeffery was the NFL’s second-highest paid receiver last year at $14.599 million, but Jeffery technically pocketed less because he served a four-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs.
Alshon Jeffery has 304 catches and 26 touchdowns in 63 career games with the Bears. Daniel Bartel/Icon Sportswire
There is no telling what Jeffery’s free agent contract is going to look like. Players typically are overpaid in free agency, and Jeffery’s situation figures to be no different, especially with the NFL’s salary cap expanding to $167 million. Also, top-flight receivers in their prime rarely make it to free agency, which is another reason why the interest level in Jeffery could be high.
From 2013-14, Jeffery combined for 174 receptions, 2,554 yards and 17 touchdowns. He played in just nine games in 2015 (54-807-4) due to a variety of soft issue injuries, and missed four games last year (52-821-2) because of the suspension.
Jeffery has yet to appear in a playoff game after five seasons with the Bears. Chicago is 9-23 the last two seasons under Fox.
