LDN - Sports

National Football League roundup

[February 23, 2017] Feb 22 (The Sports Xchange) - If the Chicago Bears can find a trade partner, quarterback Jay Cutler will be relocating this offseason.

Cutler, 33, has a $17 million cap number and four years remaining on a deal he signed during Phil Emery's tenure as general manager.

Current coach John Fox and GM Ryan Pace afforded Cutler the chance to nail down the job in 2015 and 2016, but the Bears missed the playoffs each year.

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The Bears dipped into the college ranks to hire Zach Azzanni as wide receivers coach after he spent the last four seasons at the University of Tennessee.

Azzanni arrives in the NFL with 18 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, including the past two seasons as the Volunteers' wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator.

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Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell, who was forced out of the AFC Championship Game because of a groin injury, is not expected to need offseason surgery.

Bell appears to have avoided an operation, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported Wednesday.

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Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Julius Thomas reportedly passed his physical with the Miami Dolphins to clear the way for the expected trade to be finalized next month.

According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, Thomas "got the thumbs up" from the Dolphins after the exam and that his visit with the team will wrap up on Wednesday. He visited the Dolphins' facility and met a couple of coaches.

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Ed Garvey, who was the NFL Players Association's first executive director, died Wednesday. He was 76.

Garvey died at a nursing home in Verona, Wis., after a battle with Parkinson's disease, the Capital Times reported.

Garvey, who graduated from Wisconsin Law School in 1969, was the players' union counsel and executive director from 1971 to 1983. He was a labor lawyer for a Minneapolis firm representing the NFLPA, working alongside union president John Mackey.

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