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NFL

DE Wake among players looking to cash in Sun.

Playoff spots won’t be the only things on the line when the 2017 NFL regular season concludes Sunday.

A host of players across the league are in line to pocket significant bonuses if they can reach certain performance incentives based on their Week 17 play. ESPN’s Adam Schefter, citing sources, looks at some of the most significant:

• Miami Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake collects a $1 million incentive for 55 percent playing time this season. Entering Sunday, he’s at close to 60 percent and is expected to clinch it against the Buffalo Bills.

• Titans tight end Delanie Walker earns a $500,000 incentive this season for going to the Pro Bowl and for Tennessee making the playoffs. Walker already has been voted to the Pro Bowl, so if Tennessee wins Sunday to get into the playoffs, Walker earns another half-million dollars.

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• Philadelphia Eagles running back LeGarrette Blount, who has 729 rushing yards this season, has a $300,000 incentive for 750 rushing yards. Blount needs 21 rushing yards against the Dallas Cowboys to hit that mark.

• Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Michael Brockers, who has 4.5 sacks, earns a $125,000 bonus for 5.5 sacks this season. Brockers needs one sack versus the San Francisco 49ers for the payout.

• Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, who has 790 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns this season, has a $600,000 bonus for 800 rushing yards and another $250,000 bonus for nine rushing TDs. Lynch, therefore, needs 10 rushing yards against the Los Angeles Chargers and two rushing scores to collect both monetary awards.

• Raiders wideout Seth Roberts, who has 38 catches this season, has a $150,000 bonus for 45 catches this season and needs seven receptions to claim it.

• Atlanta Falcons defensive end Adrian Clayborn, who has 9.5 sacks this season, needs an additional half-sack against the Carolina Panthers to collect a $1.25 million bonus for 10 sacks this season. Clayborn’s sack total this season already has earned him a $750,000 bonus.

• Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen, who has 85 catches this season, has a $250,000 incentive for 90 catches. Thielen needs five catches against the Chicago Bears to collect the additional bonus; he already has collected $750,000 for reaching 80 catches this season.

• New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who has 1,084 receiving yards this season, has a $2 million incentive if he has 1,200 receiving yards. Gronkowski needs 116 receiving yards against the New York Jets to collect the bonus.

• New Orleans Saints defensive end Cam Jordan, who has 12 sacks, has an escalator in his contract for 2018 that will pay him an additional $250,000 in base salary if he reaches 13 sacks this season.

• Bears wide receiver Kendall Wright, who has 54 catches, needs six more to achieve a $375,000 bonus for 60 catches this season.

• Jets receiver Jermaine Kearse, who has 60 catches for 751 yards, has a $300,000 incentive for 65 catches — as well as a $250,000 incentive that he already has achieved for 750 receiving yards.

NFL

Source: Seahawks' Coleman avoids fine for leap
7:12 PM ET

  • Brady HendersonESPN

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Justin Coleman was not fined by the NFL for his celebratory leap into a Salvation Army kettle last week, according to a league source.

Coleman jumped into one of the oversized red kettles behind the end zones at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, after returning an interception 30 yards for a touchdown in Seattle’s win over the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Eve.

The celebration mirrored one done by Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott last season. Elliott also avoided a fine.

Justin Coleman lept into a Salvation Army kettle after his pick-six against the Cowboys. Tim Heitman/USA TODAY Sports

Officials flagged Coleman 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct; NFL celebration rules prohibit players from using props.

Coleman said his celebration was preplanned.

“I was telling the guys, if I catch a pick-six in that end zone, I’m gonna jump in the kettle and throw the ball out,” he said after the Seahawks’ 21-12 victory. “It don’t matter. I was just telling them, that’s what’s going to happen. Everybody was telling me I was going to catch a pick, and it came to me. I give God the glory.”

It was Coleman’s second pick-six of the season. He had one in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts.

NFL

WR Marshall eyes Giants return, Hall of Fame

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Wide receiver Brandon Marshall wants to return to the New York Giants next season. He thinks there are two quality years left in his 33-year-old body, and he wants to complete a résumé that will lead him to the Hall of Fame.

Marshall signed a two-year deal with the Giants last offseason. He missed the final 11 games of this season with an ankle injury that required surgery.

It hasn’t stopped him from training and rehabbing at the team facility. He has been working as if there is life after 2017.

“I’m all-in on football. I’ve rebuilt my body. I think I’m two great years away from — and I’ll say it, I want to be a Hall of Famer, and I think I got two great years to go to be mentioned with some of the greats,” Marshall said. “I’m not just playing this game just to be a guy; I want to be remembered for the product that I put out on the field.

“So these last few years have been tough, last year with the Jets, this year with the Giants. But I’m hopeful that the next couple years for me will be some amazing years and some of my best work.”

Brandon Marshall has one more year on his deal with the Giants and could earn up to $5.5 million, but he produced just 18 catches for 154 yards in five games this season before being injured. Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire

Marshall is said to be progressing well in his rehab. He is already running and will be doing so without restrictions in a couple of weeks.

Newly hired general manager Dave Gettleman will have a decision to make. Marshall should be healthy and is signed for one more year. He could earn up to $5.5 million, but he produced just 18 catches for 154 yards in five games before suffering the injury and needing surgery.

Marshall understands the reality of the situation.

“You know how it is, you get to the plus side of 30, a production slip, you get injured, the business side of it, history says that you’re going to get cut or they are going to ask you to take a pay cut,” he said. “That’s the business side of it, that’s history. So I’m prepared for that. I’ve had a lot of change in my life, but one of the reasons why I came to this organization was for stability and also not to be an environment that we created this year, right? So I was looking for more stability, but I’m built for this and I’ll learn from it.”

Does that mean he would be open to a pay cut to return to the Giants?

“Well, one, it’s not about the money for me,” Marshall said. “I’ve done well, my wife and I, we’ve done a great job. So it’s not about the money. I’m good for life, my kids are good for life. But I’m back to my beast, bullish, Brandon Marshall ways. The things that you guys have seen get me in trouble Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, I’m back to that type of mentality. I want it all. It’s about respect, it’s about finishing strong, and although it’s not about the money, but I’m approaching it as whatever is for me, I want it all. If that’s $100,000, $500,000, $1 million, I want it all. Whatever I’m worth, I want it all.”

Marshall is on his fifth professional team. He has played for the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears, in addition to the Jets and Giants. He has 959 career catches for 12,215 yards and 82 touchdowns. He’s currently top 25 all time in catches and receiving touchdowns.

What’s noticeably missing from his potential Hall of Fame résumé is playoff production. Marshall has never appeared in a postseason game throughout his 12-year career.

He was hoping that would change with the Giants. Instead, this season was a disaster. The Giants (2-13) lost three wide receivers for the season — including Marshall and Odell Beckham Jr. — in one Week 5 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. It didn’t get much better from there.

After experiencing his share of problems throughout his career, Marshall admittedly tried to lay low with the Giants. He said it felt good not to be in the middle of the drama for once.

The veteran receiver tried to play a different role with the Giants this year. He’s one of the players embattled cornerback Eli Apple said he had conversations with throughout the season and offered advice.

Marshall is attempting to serve as a resource and mentor.

“I do have compassion for him. I talk to him and I want to spend time with him this offseason,” Marshall said.

“And I told him it’s not about football. I want to help him get through this because, from my story, I ended up in a mental institute for three months,” Marshall said, referencing his journey to a borderline personality disorder diagnosis, which led to him becoming a passionate advocate for mental health. “I was in the outpatient program because, like so many other guys, we were Atlas, you know the guy who was holding up the world. You’re holding up your family and everybody around, right? What that does to a person, especially a young kid fresh out of college with no life experiences, that can break somebody down.”

Marshall knows. He says he made it through similar experiences early in a career that he hopes has a couple of years remaining.

NFL

Rams may rest starters for finale vs. 49ers

Several key Los Angeles Rams starters may sit for Sunday’s regular-season finale against the San Francisco 49ers.

First-year head coach Sean McVay indicated Tuesday that the Rams, who clinched a division title last week, prefer to keep key players fresh as opposed to fighting for positioning in the NFC playoffs. The Rams (11-4) don’t have a chance at a first-round bye and will either be the third or fourth seed.

“Every single game is important,” McVay told the media from the team facility in Thousand Oaks, California. “But I think it will provide an opportunity for us to potentially get some guys healthier, rest them, give some other guys a chance to step up. How that affects the guys that are healthy that we want to be smart with is going to be determined as the week progresses. But it is one of those deals where I think you might see us rest some guys.”

The Rams would more than likely rest veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth and center John Sullivan for Sunday’s home game against the 49ers. If that’s the case, quarterback Jared Goff and running back Todd Gurley II probably would not play either. Sean Mannion is Goff’s backup and Malcolm Brown would stand to get the majority of the carries in Gurley’s absence.

McVay also mentioned inside linebackers Mark Barron and Alec Ogletree as candidates to not play. Other key veterans — such as receivers Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods, defensive linemen Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers, outside linebackers Robert Quinn and Connor Barwin, cornerback Trumaine Johnson, safety Lamarcus Joyner and offensive lineman Rodger Saffold — could also at least see a limited workload.

“You don’t ever take anything for granted, but knowing that you do have a home playoff game regardless of how things play out, this might provide an opportunity for us to get some guys healthy,” McVay said. “That’s a luxury that we want to try to take advantage of.”

A loss to the division-rival 49ers, who are 4-0 since Jimmy Garoppolo became the starting quarterback, would drop the Rams to the No. 4 seed if the New Orleans Saints (11-4) beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-11). If the Saints lose, the Carolina Panthers (11-4) can take the No. 3 seed from the Rams by beating the Atlanta Falcons (9-6).

The Rams are guaranteed to host the first round, and not drop below the No. 4 seed, because they have already won the NFC West. Regardless of whether they are third or fourth, they would have to travel for the second round of the playoffs, to face either the first-place Philadelphia Eagles (13-2) or the second-place Minnesota Vikings (12-3).

Todd Gurley II is having an MVP-level season for the Rams, but sitting out the regular season finale may hurt his chances. AP Photo/Mark Zaleski

The Rams are currently lined up to host the Falcons in the first round, but the Seattle Seahawks are also in the running.

“I think really what we’ve discussed is when you really take into consideration that there’s four potential teams that we can play — all of them are very, very good football teams, and however it plays out, you’re going to be on the road the following week,” McVay said. “When you look at getting guys healthy, knowing that you are going to be able to play a home playoff game, and then you think about kind of the risk-reward, we feel like that’s probably going to be the best decision, is to rest some of those guys for our team.”

Ogletree and Barron, in particular, could benefit from a rest. Ogletree has been playing through a hyperextended left elbow and Barron was a surprising inactive for Sunday’s game because of what McVay deemed a sore Achilles tendon, calling it a “day-to-day” injury.

Resting Gurley could hurt his chances at the MVP. The Rams’ running back leads the NFL with 2,093 scrimmage yards and 19 touchdowns, but is going up against Tom Brady for an award that traditionally goes to quarterbacks. The biggest concern for the Rams, however, revolves around key players potentially being rusty for the playoffs if they take a game off.

McVay recalled the way the Rams played coming off their bye week, in a 51-17 road win over the New York Giants in Week 9.

“I love the way that our team came off the bye,” said McVay, who also expressed concern about starters playing in the regular-season finale with fear of getting injured.

“When you talk about the timing and rhythm from an offensive standpoint, I thought it was one of our more productive games where we’re hitting deep balls, we’re able to run the football, have a nice little bit of balance, guys are making plays. I think we’ve got the right types of guys that can handle that the right way and understand how we need to practice and what we need to do in the meantime if it is a situation where they’re not going to play this coming week.”

McVay also announced that Matt Longacre, a key rotational edge rusher, will be placed on injured reserve with a back injury. That would prompt Samson Ebukam and Carlos Thompson to step up as backups at outside linebacker for starters Robert Quinn and Connor Barwin.

The Rams’ new kicker, Sam Ficken, will remain with the team, McVay added. Ficken, an undrafted free agent out of Penn State in 2015, beat out 11 other kickers in a tryout last week to replace Greg Zuerlein. Ficken then missed an extra point and a 36-yard field goal to start Sunday’s eventual 27-23 win over the Tennessee Titans, which served as his first NFL regular-season game. But he recovered to make his next three extra points.

“There was a reason why we signed him — because he had a great workout, his resume kind of going back to what he’s doing in college is something that we felt good about, and we’re going to continue to give him an opportunity,” McVay said. “We believe in Sam. Like we said, we loved the way that he responded. And I think this week will provide a great chance for him to continue to do some things for our team. We’re going to move forward with confidence in him.”

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