NFL Player News

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is just one of five quarterbacks in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards. However, since he accomplished the feat in 2011, his passing yards have declined each season.

Stafford passed for 4,257 yards and attempted 602 passes in 2014 -- his first year under coach Jim Caldwell. While at the NFL owners' meetings in Phoenix this week, Caldwell said it's probably safe not to expect Stafford's numbers to change much in 2015.

"Here's the thing I want to make certain you guys understand, and see what I see just in terms of my vision," Caldwell said, per MLive.com. "When I tell you we're not going to throw the ball anymore than we threw it, that's a fact. We're probably not going to throw it (more).

"If we do throw it more, that means we're struggling, we're not winning, we're not a very good football team. OK? Plain and simple. Maybe that ball's got to be distributed a little bit differently, but I don't anticipate those numbers changing, overall, a significant amount."

After implementing the pistol formation into the offense to help take stress off of quarterback Aaron Rodgers' leg in 2014, the Packers are considering to use it more often this season, according to the Journal Sentinel.

"I like the pistol," head coach Mike McCarthy said during a break at the NFL owners meetings this week. "I think there's a lot of value regardless of the injury to Aaron. I know he likes it. There's a place for it year-round in your offense."

Although McCarthy has no intention of turning Rodgers into an option quarterback, the system provides unpredictability for opposing offenses.

"I would say this is about the third year it's been part of our pace and installation," McCarthy said. "Really, when we moved to it exclusively there at the end of the year it really wasn't a change for us.

"I liked it from a self-scout standpoint. It gives you another self-scout variable when you're in the gun, but you also have the tailback behind you. (There are a) lot of benefits to it."

Quarterback Sam Bradford has played seven games over the past two seasons while getting his left ACL repaired twice. Eagles coach Chip Kelly, who traded for Bradford, said he is not overly concerned about the injury risk.

"Look at our starting receiver last year [Jeremy Maclin], who had 85 catches," Kelly said at the NFL owners meetings, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Look at the year he had coming off of two ACLs.

"Look at our center. Jason Kelce had an ACL right before I got there and had a sports hernia in the middle of last season, and still made the Pro Bowl. Our left tackle [Jason Peters], who is arguably a Hall of Famer, has had two Achilles' [injuries] and is playing at an outstanding level.

"I would say it's easier for a quarterback with a knee injury [to come back] than a shoulder injury, as we went through the history of it. We didn't bring Sam in to run the ball 75 times a game. I think it's a lot easier for a quarterback with an ACL than it is for a receiver with an ACL. The history in terms of sports science right now and what doctors are doing is unbelievable."

Lions head coach Jim Caldwell likes what he sees in the way of improvement for quarterback Matthew Stafford, according to the Detroit News.

"I think he's just got to keep improving," Caldwell said Wednesday during NFL annual meetings. "I was walking down a hall yesterday, and someone said something about, 'Well, hey, don't you really need your quarterback to really take off?' And I looked at him and said, 'No, we don't need him to really take off. He's been doing well.'

"He's improving steadily. Things in this league don't happen that way. No one makes a meteoric jump. It's gradual. It's too competitive. There are too many good players and it's a tough league, and I do think he's making really good progress."

Stafford, a former first round selection of the Lions, is entering his sixth season in the NFL. He has started all 16 games for four consecutive years. The 27-year-old has thrown for 21,714 yards with 131 touchdowns and 85 interceptions.

Rams coach Jeff Fisher confirmed Wednesday the Browns tried to trade for quarterback Sam Bradford in early March, and the compensation involved draft picks and not players, per Cleveland.com.

Fisher added the Browns did not offer the No. 12 pick in the NFL Draft, which indicates they offered the No. 19 pick. Other compensation was also discussed before the Rams traded Bradford to the Eagles for quarterback Nick Foles and an exchange of draft picks.

"There were discussions (with the Browns) late in the process,'' Fisher said. "There were never really any concrete offers per se. The misconception is that it started at the combine. It didn't. I stood up at the combine and said that Sam was our quarterback. This came well after that, several days before we initiated the trade with Nick, but there was a pick involved. There were numerous things that were discussed, different options. The compensation looked different over a period of a couple of days. I'm not going to go onto what it was, but it didn't involve  a player."

Fisher added acquiring the No. 12 pick in the draft probably wouldn't have sealed the deal.

"At that point, you still don't have a veteran quarterback," Fisher said. "Again, Nick for us was the perfect fit for us, and I have talked with (Eagles coach) Chip (Kelly) and he thinks Sam is the perfect fit, so this was a good deal. But for us, we get a younger quarterback that's won a lot of games in this league, can make all of the throws and is somewhat durable. I know he's had shoulder issues, but most everybody has.''

Jets head coach Todd Bowles said that for now quarterback Geno Smith will be the starter entering training camp, reports nj.com.

"Geno, he's our guy, right now," Bowles said at the NFL annual meeting at the Arizona Biltmore here. "When we get to training camp, Geno will start out running the first-team reps. He's the only quarterback we have right now, if we don't draft one, with Ryan Fitzpatrick hurt."

The Jets recently picked up quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick in a trade with the Texans.

Smith, 24, was drafted in the second round of the 2013 draft. The thrid-year pro has thrown for 5,571 yards with 25 touchdowns and 34 interceptions.

In Raiders coach Jack Del Rio's mind, quarterback Derek Carr was asked to do too much in his rookie season. 

Carr threw the ball 599 times and completed 348 of those passes for 3,270 yards, 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Now that Del Rio is at the helm, he's looking to run the ball a lot more to balance things out. 

"I thought it was all about Derek last year," Del Rio said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. "I want to be able to run the ball, play good defense."

The Raiders are likely to rely on Latavius Murray to be the feature back now that Maurice Jones-Drew has retired and Darren McFadden has left for Dallas. Del Rio believes that a balanced attack should open the game up more for Carr in his second season. 

"If we do things around him, he really has a chance to flourish," Del Rio said. "He is really accurate. He has a huge upside."

Jets owner Woody Johnson isn't giving up on quarterback Geno Smith yet. 

Speaking to the New York Daily News, Johnson hinted he would be happy sticking with Smith instead of selecting a quarterback such as Oregon's Marcus Mariota in the upcoming NFL draft. 

"Geno’s probably way ahead of him at this point, believe it or not," Johnson said. "Whether you guys have skepticism or not … but certainly his college career was good."

The Jets are picking sixth overall and could see Mariota fall to them. The possibility of trading up could present itself, too. 

"That’s something that we’re going to look at," Johnson said. "We’ve got from now until the start of the season to address every position, not only quarterback. We’re going to have competition at every position. We’ve said that before and we’re going to have competition here. Hopefully, it’ll bring out the best in the quarterbacks and all the positions."

While the Dolphins will spend the next six weeks trying to finalize a long-term contract with quarterback Ryan Tannehill, if no deal can be reached, the team plans to exercise its fifth-year option on his contract, sources told the Sun Sentinel.

If the option is used, Tannehill would earn nearly $16 million in 2016.

"We like the player a lot. Our hope and expectation is he'll be here for a long time," Dolphins vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum said. "When a long-term deal gets done, I don't have a timetable right now."

The option must be utilized by May 1.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross confirmed the team's interest when he said Monday he would like to discuss a long-term contract with Tannehill this offseason, reports the Palm Beach Post.

Bengals owner Mike Brown is confident the team has found a quality quarterback in Andy Dalton, reports Cincinnati.com.

"Andy is a good quarterback," Brown said.

Along with the Bengals, Brown said other teams consider Dalton a quality quarterback as well and that he would benefit from good players around him.

"He is the style of guy who can function best when he has a good group around him," Brown said. "He needs that. Maybe he needs it more than some, but they all need it. There is no quarterback that goes out and has success without good players in the mix."