Brandon Albert’s saga with the Jacksonville Jaguars has ended in the worst possible way. Albert, who was slated to be the team’s starting left tackle this season, informed the club that he would retire.
The Jaguars acquired Albert by sending a seventh round pick to the Miami Dolphins in a trade this past March.
“This is such a special league and it’s been an honor and a privilege to play this sport professionally for the past nine years,” Albert said in a statement. “I wish Coach (Doug) Marrone and my Jacksonville teammates the best of luck on their journey this season. During my short stint in Jacksonville, I quickly realized that they are working incredibly hard to turn the corner and I truly believe that they will find success in the coming years.”
Albert never seemed happy with the trade and his sudden retirement is the culmination of a weird off-season for the team. Albert skipped most of the team’s work over the spring and summer, but did attend the mandatory minicamp. He never played an actual snap for Jacksonville.
“I’m not going to speak for him,” Marrone said. “I’m just going to say what was said to me, ‘I’m going to retire.’ And then my mind goes on to the next thing, like, ‘OK, we’ve got to get ready for practice. It’s not something that happened last night, where we had a lot of time to think about. I really haven’t put a lot of thought into it. My thought was into practice and the rotation, the position, things of that nature.”
Luckily, the Jaguars were smart enough to draft Cam Robinson out of Alabama high in the second round of April’s NFL Draft. He’s the favorite now to get the starting left tackle job that would have likely been his next season anyway. Albert had two years left on his contract.
“I look forward to returning to Miami, the place that I now call ‘home,’ and running my businesses, while giving back to the community,” Albert said. “While this chapter of my life is coming to an end, my story is still going and I hope you’ll follow along.”
Making it rain is costly for Robinson and Benenoch
Detroit Lions defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson and Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive lineman Caleb Benenoch decided to ball hard at a Los Angeles nightclub back in March, but balled way less when their credit cards were both declined on a $9,332 tab.
They are now being sued by the guy that did pay their tab, Richard James Harrington. Harrington footed the bill at the Hyde nightclub and was stiffed by both NFL players.
Robinson, when asked, didn’t comment on the story but Benenoch did.
“We did our part,” Benenoch said. This is all I’m really going to say on it. I’m focused on football. I’m not really worried about what they’ve got going on. The legal system is going to play itself out. I’m focused on what we’ve got going on here.”
To make matters even worse for Robinson, his head coach Jim Caldwell was asked about it.
“I’m not going to talk about any particular incident because obviously some of those things are still being dealt with from a legal standpoint,” Caldwell said. “But just overall, we want our guys to be civil. We want our guys to obviously not be mixed up in any illegal activity or anything that brings discredit to our organization. So those are the things we preach constantly. But like I said, I’m not going to address each and every one of those situations because they are bound right now by a legal set of statutes.”
Robinson started five games last season for the Lions and played in 16. He recorded 30 tackles, two sacks and seven passes defended. Detroit drafted him in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Benenoch started one game for the Bucs and played in five. He was a fifth round pick last year.
Glover Quin gets extension
In better news for the Lions, safety Glover Quin and the team agreed on a contract extension over the weekend that will keep the defensive back in Detroit through the 2019 season. Quin signed a two year, $13 million deal with $9,5 million in guaranteed money.
“Glover is one of our team leaders, and throughout his career has been a consummate professional on and off the field,” Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager Bob Quinn said in a statement. “We are thrilled that he will be a Lion for the next three seasons. I also want to thank Glover and his representatives for their work in making this contract extension a reality.”
Last year Quin recorded 68 tackles, one forced fumble, five passes defended and two interceptions.
Ravens make a couple of moves, but not the one we expect
There’s no question the Baltimore Ravens are looking hard at free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Not only have the already reached out to Kaepernick, but they’ve even reportedly hired a poling company to gauge the populace on how they’d react to his signing.
So it comes as no surprise that Monday the Ravens signed a quarterback. They guy? Josh Woodrum. I know what you’re thinking, “Of course! Josh Woodrum! It makes perfect sense!”
Woodrum was previously with the Buffalo Bills and, needless to say, has never tossed a pass in the NFL. The Ravens did cut David Olson, the former Arena League quarterback they signed a few days ago. Woodrum was signed by the New York Giants last season as an undrafted free agent out of Liberty University. He bounced around with two other teams, the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears. Woodrum was the only NCAA-FCS quarterback to participate in the 2016 NFL Combine other than Carson Wentz.
In his senior year at Liberty, Woodrum completed 62.1 percent of his passes for 2,772 yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. He added 146 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
I still think they’re going to sign Kaepernick and should probably stop screwing around.
The other move the Ravens made over the weekend is adding tight end Larry Donnell to a roster suddenly devoid of tight ends. In a related move, they cut wide receiver Tim Patrick. Donnell spent the last five seasons with the New York Giants. He started six games last year and played in 14, catching 15 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown.
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