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NFL notebook: Suh to visit Raiders next

[March 21, 2018] Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will take a fourth free agent visit on Wednesday, this time with the Oakland Raiders, according to multiple media reports.

The Raiders have been the league's most active team in free agency, with a total of 14 new arrivals and two re-signings in a week's time.

Suh has been busy as well. Since being released on March 14 by the Miami Dolphins, he has visited the New Orleans Saints, the Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Rams. An NFL Network report last week suggested Suh planned to meet with several teams and take his time before deciding where he would play next.

The No. 2 overall pick of the Detroit Lions in 2010, Suh has 51.5 career sacks -- with no fewer than four in any season -- across eight years while never missing a game due to injury. In three campaigns with the Dolphins, he tallied 15.5 sacks and 49 quarterback hits.

--NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent confirmed to the Washington Post that changes to the league's catch rule will be proposed.

Vincent said the competition committee will propose that the league eliminate the "going to the ground" rule, which NFL Network reported as a possibility last month. Also to be proposed for elimination will be the rule that slight movement of the ball in a receiver's hands should negate a catch.

"We worked backward," Vincent told the Post. "We looked at plays and said: Do you want that to be a catch? And then we applied that to the rule. Slight movement of the ball, it looks like we'll reverse that. Going to the ground, it looks like that's going to be eliminated. And we'll go back to the old replay standard of reverse the call on the field only when it's indisputable."

--Former NFL offensive lineman Jonathan Martin is facing four charges of making criminal threats and one count of carrying a loaded firearm in the aftermath of his threatening Instagram post last month.

Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Josh Rubenstein told NFL.com a warrant has been issued for Martin's arrest and that police have been in contact with the 28-year-old's attorney.

Martin was detained by police on Feb. 23 after his post on social media forced his alma mater high school to shut down for the day. A pair of Harvard-Westlake High School campuses in Los Angeles were closed as a result of the post.

--The Jacksonville Jaguars will release wide receiver Allen Hurns and tight end Marcedes Lewis in a series of moves that will save them nearly $11 million against the cap, according to multiple reports.

Hurns signed a four-year, $40 million extension with Jacksonville in 2016 that included $20 million guaranteed and carried a cap hit of $7 million this year. He had 39 catches for 484 yards and two touchdowns last season.

Lewis, 33, was entering the final term of a three-year, $12 million contract that carried a cap hit of $3.75 million in 2018. The tight end had 24 catches for 318 yards and five touchdowns last season.

--The Pittsburgh Steelers are nearing a deal with former Green Bay Packers safety Morgan Burnett.

Burnett was expected to sign with the team Tuesday, according to a report from ESPN. Per NFL Network, it was expected to be a three-year agreement worth $14.5 million.

Burnett played 12 games last season, missing the other four because of hamstring and groin injuries. The 29-year-old hasn't played a full season since 2012 and has 7.5 sacks, 44 passes defensed and nine interceptions across 102 games in his eight NFL seasons.

--The New England Patriots will re-sign free agent special teams ace Matthew Slater to a two-year deal, according to multiple reports.

Slater reportedly visited the Steelers last week.

The 32-year-old has spent all 10 years of his career in New England, earning Pro Bowl appearances in each of the last seven seasons for his work in the third phase. His selection in 2017 came despite missing seven games.

--Penn State running back Saquon Barkley intended to do a field workout during the school's pro day, but without a single NFL running backs coach in attendance, he decided to pass.

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"I woke up this morning and that was the game plan," Barkley said, per ESPN, "but then when I realized there wasn't a running backs coach here, I figured there was no point for me to run routes or do drills."

The 21-year-old went through all of the running back drills at the combine last month. He never planned to do athletic testing at his pro day after posting tremendous numbers in Indianapolis: a 4.40 40-yard dash, 29 bench-press reps and a 41-inch vertical jump after measuring at 6 feet, 233 pounds.

--Former Washington Redskins wide receiver Ryan Grant will sign a one-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts, according to multiple reports.

Grant, 27, had a four-year, $29 million contract with $14 million guaranteed from Baltimore voided after he failed the Ravens' physical due to an ankle issue. Per ESPN, the issue dated back to an injury sustained in Grant's final game with the Redskins.

Grant reportedly passed a physical with the Colts when he visited the team Saturday. His one-year deal with Indianapolis will be worth $5 million, according to a report from NFL Network.

--The Minnesota Vikings reached agreement to retain kicker Kai Forbath on a one-year deal, according to multiple reports.

Forbath told the Pioneer Press that the signed contract is "in the mail." The 30-year-old added that he received a small raise from his $775,000 salary in 2017.

"We both mutually agreed we wanted to make it happen and it did," Forbath told the newspaper. "I'm happy to be back for another year. I think the team has a lot of potential and a great future and I'm glad to be a part of it."

--The San Francisco 49ers signed guard Jonathan Cooper to a one-year deal, the team announced.

Cooper, 28, started 13 games at left guard for the Dallas Cowboys last season, and he will compete for a gig with the 49ers.

--The Seattle Seahawks will sign former New York Giants offensive lineman D.J. Fluker, according to multiple reports.

Fluker, who turned 27 last week, signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Giants in free agency last spring and played in nine games in 2017, making six starts at guard and filling in occasionally at tackle. His season ended with a toe injury suffered in Week 11.

--Patriots offensive tackle Antonio Garcia announced on Instagram that he has been medically cleared to play after missing all of his rookie season with blood clots in his lungs.

A third-round pick out of Troy in 2017, Garcia reportedly lost 40 pounds during his recovery. He weighed in at 302 pounds at the 2017 combine after spending much of his playing career in the 280s.

--Dallas struck a deal with the Raiders to acquire fullback Jamize Olawale, the Cowboys announced Tuesday.

The two teams will swap draft picks in the trade, with the Raiders sending a sixth-round pick (No. 192 overall) to Dallas in exchange for a fifth-rounder (No. 173 overall).

Olawale previously was a member of the Cowboys' practice squad after going undrafted in 2012. The 28-year-old became expendable in Oakland after the Raiders signed former Cowboys fullback Keith Smith last week.

--Former Chicago Bears head coach John Fox will take a job with ESPN as a studio analyst, according to The Athletic's Richard Deitsch.

ESPN has a few openings to fill, including that of Herm Edwards, who is now the head coach at Arizona State after spending nearly nine years with ESPN.

--Field Level Media

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