Team news: Arizona Cardinals | Page 50

WR Reggie Wayne made it clear he has no intention of retiring following a decorated 14-year career with the Indianapolis Colts. He’s the NFL’s active leader with 1,070 receptions and 14,345 yards – each is No. 2 in club history behind Marvin Harrison – but is coming off an injury-plagued 2014 that limited him to 64 catches and 779 yards.

And let’s not forget, Wayne turns 37 in November.

An ideal scenario, he said, is to play one more season then retire. Wayne said teams – he wouldn’t elaborate – have expressed an interest.

Wayne finished as a fantasy WR5 as he battled numerous injuries during the 2014 campaign. If he lands in a possession role in a good passing offense he could be a factor in PPR leagues this season.

It is not just the Cardinals and their fans who are expecting WR John Brown to be a difference maker in the Cardinals offense. NFL.com writer Chris Wesseling ranked Brown sixth in his list of players he believes will "make the leap" this season and start to become a household name around the NFL.

"It's rare to come across an offseason hype bunny who meets expectations as a rookie. It's even more rare to find an NFL draft sleeper in the height of the Twitter era. A hidden gem from small-school Pittsburg State, the third-round pick immediately impressed the Cardinals with his high-end speed, uncanny instincts and unexpected understanding of route concepts.

"Before the end of his first training camp, Brown was already drawing comparisons to potential Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison, Colts star T.Y. Hilton and 2003 rookie sensation Anquan Boldin."

The article went on to say Wesseling thinks Brown needs to work on his strength, but he believes it's not out of the question Brown could pass teammate Michael Floyd this year. Right now we have Brown ranked 45th on our WR list with an ADP of the 9th round. Interestingly, we have the Cardinal WRs all going around the same time in 12-team formats: Brown 9.07, Floyd 8.04 and Larry Fitzgerald 8.11. However it's Fitzgerald who we have rated the highest at 24th (Floyd's ranked 39th on our list). Fitz could end up being the best value among the three as other WRs ranked around Fitzgerald are all going as many as three rounds earlier. A healthy QB Carson Palmer is the key to how successful the Arizona passing game is this season, and of course all three of these guys will help boost Palmer's value.

Dorial Green-Beckham spent weeks sidelined by a hamstring injury. That aside, his former college coach believes the Titans have landed the equivalent of a "nightmare matchup for any cornerback at any level."

"I was with the Colts with Jim Mora when he had Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, I was with the Raiders when they had Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Jerry Porter and some other guys on the Super Bowl team," University of Texas receivers coach Jay Norvell told the Tennessean.

Norvell spent last season coaching the red-shirted Green-Beckham in practice at Oklahoma, saying: "When you go through the history of the draft and look at the guys with size and speed and all that, he is just unique. Calvin Johnson is probably one of the closest comparisons physically because of his size."

Armed with 4.49 speed and a 6-foot-5, 237-pound frame, Green-Beckham drew pre-draft comparisons from NFL Media's Charles Davis to Falcons star Julio Jones and former NFL wideout Plaxico Burress.

"He's not a finished product, but most players aren't," Norvell said. "So he's going to have to learn the pro game and that's a completely different game from college. But he's got some natural gifts that will help him in that game, and in some ways, the NFL is probably a better game for him than college football, just because of the bump rules and (less) contact and all of that. So there are some advantages he has. ... That's why they picked him."

If Green-Beckham picks up things quickly and proves he’s not as raw as his detractors say — one offensive coordinator said he was “completely lost” at the whiteboard in a pre-draft interview — he could certainly start early in the season opposite Kendall Wright, since it seems that Justin Hunter is on the outs with the current coaching staff. If he sees starter’s snaps, he should be fantasy relevant as a rookie, though he'll have to prove he's ready for the mental side of the game. Long-term, he has a chance to flourish if both he and Marcus Mariota are the real deal.

Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson left Sunday’s game against the Jaguars at EverBank Field due to a concussion.

Johnson went down near Jacksonville’s end zone after being hit in the head at the four-yard line. He lost his helmet on the play.

Johnson, 33, needed eight catches Sunday to reach 1,000 career receptions, tying Marvin Harrison for the fastest in NFL history to reach the mark. Johnson caught four balls for 17 yards before leaving the game.

Johnson has suffered two concussions in less than two years. He received a concussion Week 2 against Tennessee last season. We'll continue to update his status leading up to Week 15.

The Denver Broncos have switched kickers again, waiving first-year pro Brandon McManus and signing Connor Barth, who hasn't kicked in an NFL game since 2012.

Barth, 28, won a competition with 38-year-old Jay Feely at the Broncos complex in suburban Denver on Tuesday.

The Broncos were in the market for a new kicker after McManus clanked a 33-yard field goal off the right upright in Denver's 39-36 win over Miami on Sunday. That came on the heels of a game in St. Louis where they passed up field goal attempts of 54 and 55 yards indoors.

McManus' longest field goal was from 44 yards, and he didn't really get the chance for a pressure kick for the AFC West-leading Broncos.

While solid on kickoffs, McManus was 9 for 13 on field goal attempts. His 69.2 percent conversion rate was dead last among NFL kickers, ranking ahead of only Nate Freese and Alex Henery, both of whom were released by Detroit earlier this season.

Barth, who spent four of his five seasons in Tampa Bay, has plenty of experience in crunch time, although not for a team with quite the Super Bowl aspirations of the Broncos, the story said. Barth has made 84 percent of his career field goal tries. He was the most accurate kicker in Buccaneers history but missed all of last season after tearing the Achilles tendon in his right foot during a charity basketball game. He returned this year but was beaten out by rookie Patrick Murray. The Broncos, of course, kept McManus over Matt Prater who was suspended the first four games of the season and is now with Detroit. Barth has a ton of fantasy potential for those looking to upgrade.

Kicker Matt Prater beat out Jay Feely and Connor Barth during a three-way kick-off Tuesday at the Lion's Allen Park headquarters, according to an ESPN report.

In eight seasons, the last seven with the Denver Broncos, Prater made 81.6 percent of his field goals. He went 25-26 last season, including an NFL record 64-yarder. For his career, he's 21 for 27 from 50 yards and beyond.

He was released by the Broncos last week, days before his four-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy was set to end.

Prater replaces Nate Freese and Alex Henery, who combined to go a league-worst 4-of-12 during the first five weeks of the season. Only one other team has more than two misses. Prater should be a very solid, weekly play as your fantasy kicker, especially with the Lions banged up on offense and possibly missing WR Calvin Johnson and RBs Reggie Bush and Joique Bell.

Coach Jim Caldwell announced Monday that the Detroit Lions have released embattled placekicker Alex Henery.

Henery was just 1-of-4 in his two games with the Lions, including an 0-of-3 performance Sunday in a 17-14 loss against the Buffalo Bills. That includes missing a would-be game-winner from 50 yards in the final seconds.

Caldwell said the process has already begun to find Henery's replacement. He'll value experience in the process, but won't rule out any options.

The Lions are expected to hold tryouts this week in Allen Park.

Matt Prater and Jay Feely are two veterans who are available and could make sense for Detroit, which has made just 4-of-12 field-goal attempts on the season -- and just 1-of-9 from outside 30 yards, the story added.

Matt Prater, who is serving the final days of his four-game suspension for violating the league's alcohol program, was notified around 11 a.m. Friday that he would be released.

"I'm a little surprised," Prater said from Florida. "The Broncos look like they're going to do some great things this year. It's too bad I won't be a part of it. I'm just going to concentrate on keeping myself in shape and hopefully I'll be kicking for someone this year."

The Broncos are sticking with Brandon McManus, who in his first three NFL games is 14-of-16 in kickoff touchbacks and three-of-three on field-goal attempts, although his longest is from 24 yards.

McManus has only kicked three field goals through three games, but he should be a quality start on an every week basis given the strength of the Denver offense.