NFL News

3:56pm: According to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link), Ratliff was escorted out of Halas Hall on Wednesday, and had an animated exchange with GM Ryan Pace. Pace said in a statement today that the move was “in the best interest” of the team (Twitter link via Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune).

3:49pm: Having already traded two veteran defensive players since the 2015 season got underway, the Bears are making more changes on that side of the ball. According to Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Chicago has released defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff.

Ratliff, 34, was suspended for three games to open the season for violating the league’s policy and program for substances of abuse. However, after being re-added to the roster, he resumed his starting duties for the Bears, playing more than half of the team’s snaps over the last two weeks.

A year ago, Ratliff racked up 37 tackles and 6.5 sacks in just 11 games, grading as the league’s sixth-best defensive tackle – according to Pro Football Focus – despite playing fewer snaps than any other DT in the top 10. However, between injuries and suspensions, he hasn’t played a full season since 2011, and new Bears head coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio may not have viewed him as an ideal fit for the club.

To replace Ratliff on the roster, the Bears have signed defensive tackle Ziggy Hood, the team announced today (via Twitter). Hood, who spent five years in Pittsburgh to begin his NFL career, was a Jaguar last season, appearing in all 16 games and recording 24 tackles to go along with a sack and a fumble recovery.

The Bears have now jettisoned Ratliff, Jared Allen, and Jonathan Bostic in recent weeks, and also released Tim Jennings just a couple weeks before the regular season began. All four players started at least half of Chicago’s games in 2014.

Through at least the 2020 season, EverBank Field will continue to host seven Jaguars regular season games annually, rather than eight, as we learned earlier today. With Jacksonville having extended its relationship with Wembley Stadium through 2020, with an option for five additional years, the Jags will play at least one home game per year overseas for the foreseeable future.

While that announcement wasn’t a surprise, it’s worth keeping an eye on the Jags’ schedule over the next few years to see if they spend even more time in the United Kingdom. The team is a good candidate to become the first to play two consecutive games in London — likely one as a home team and one as a road team. Additionally, once Tottenham’s new stadium opens in 2018, the Jags would look like a prime candidate to play games there as well, given owner Shad Khan’s fondness for the market.

Here’s more on Khan, the Jaguars, and some other teams from the NFL’s two South divisions:

• While Khan is disappointed with the Jaguars‘ 1-5 record to open the 2015 season, he said today that he still has “a huge amount of confidence” in GM Dave Caldwell and head coach Gus Bradley, writes Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union.
• Texans guard Brandon Brooks, who figures to be one of the more intriguing free agents at his position in 2016, was impressed by Marshal Yanda‘s new contract with the Ravens, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. “Not bad at all,” Brooks said. “He deserves it.” For his part, Brooks could end up seeking a similar deal this winter.
• Drew Brees is 36, and it’s time for the Saints to face reality and think about the future of the position, writes Pat Yasinskas of WalterFootball.com. Although Brees is coming off his best game of the season against Atlanta, Yasinskas rightly notes that there have been some signs that the veteran signal-caller is slowing down. If the Saints finish near the bottom of the league this year, they may have a chance to draft California quarterback Jared Goff, and that’s a pick that Yasinskas endorses.
• Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota didn’t take part in practice today, and head coach Ken Whisenhunt said that tomorrow’s practice will reveal a lot about the QB’s availability for Week 7 (Twitter links via Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com). Reports on the severity of Mariota’s injury have varied, with some suggesting he could be sidelined for multiple weeks, while others have indicated he should play this weekend.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Veteran wide receiver Brandon Lloyd has announced his retirement from the NFL, tweets Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com. According to Wagoner, Lloyd’s announcement, which was made via press release, thanked several coaches and players by name.

Lloyd, who was known for his ability to make acrobatic catches, broke into the NFL as a fourth-round pick in 2003, and spent his first three season with the 49ers. The Illinois product bounced around from San Francisco to Washington to Chicago, and then to Denver, where he had his breakout season in 2010. Having never totaled more than 48 receptions or 733 yards in a season prior to ’10, Lloyd smashed those career highs, racking up a league-leading 1,448 receiving yards along with 11 touchdowns on 77 catches.

A few weeks into the 2011 season, Lloyd was traded by the Broncos to the Rams. At season’s end, he signed a contract with the Patriots, and enjoyed one last productive season in New England in 2012, picking up 911 yards and four touchdowns on 74 receptions.

Most recently, Lloyd played for the 2014 Niners, making him the latest member of that team to announce his retirement, following in the footsteps of Patrick Willis, Justin Smith, and Chris Borland. Lloyd, who turned 34 over the summer, had just 14 catches last season in San Francisco, and had been a free agent since his one-year pact expired.

For his career, Lloyd fell just short of 400 receptions and 6,000 receiving yards, accumulating 399 and 5,989 respectively.