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On this fine August Friday, you probably woke up expecting the NFL’s top stories for today to revolve around last night’s preseason action, with intriguing quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky, DeShone Kizer, and Jimmy Garoppolo making their preseason debuts on Thursday night.
But then NFL news started dropping...
Cowboys' RB Ezekiel Elliott is being suspended 6 games, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 11, 2017
It started with the Zeke news when Adam Schefter reported that Ezekiel Elliott was going to be suspended for six games stemming from his July 2016 incident.
NFL told Ezekiel Elliott the 6-game suspension is based on July 2016 allegations, source said. Not an accumulation of other incidents.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 11, 2017
Then further reports came out suggesting that Elliott has been involved in as many as three domestic violence incidents...
Obtained the letter from NFL's Todd Jones to Ezekiel Elliott. It cites photographic evidence of three instances of "physical force."
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 11, 2017
According to reports, Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones is furious. Elliott has three days to appeal his suspension. There’s a chance it gets reduced to four games.
While the NFL world was going crazy reacting the suspension of 2016’s leading rusher, Offensive Rookie of the Year, All-Pro running back, the Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills, and Philadelphia Eagles decided to jump into the headlines...
Total
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) August 11, 2017
Bills get
Jordan Matthews
EJ Gaines
Rams 2018 2nd
Eagles 2018 3rd
Rams get
Sammy Watkins
BIills 2018 6th
Eagles get
Ronald Darby
In what appears to be a three-way trade (or possible two separate two-way trades), the Bills have dealt former top-ten pick Sammy Watkins and former second-round cornerback Ronald Darby.
Darby heads to the Eagles to help improve a suspect secondary in return for wide receiver Jordan Matthews, who has frustrated Eagles fans for a few years now with his inconsistency. Nelson Agholor will get his chance to shine next to Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith.
The Bills declined to pick up Sammy Watkins 5th-year option, meaning he would have been an unrestricted free agent after 2017. Now the Rams will likely attempt to negotiate a long-term deal with Jared Goff’s new number one receiver.
The Rams bid farewell to former 6th-round pick E.J. Gaines, who will take Ronald Darby’s cornerback spot with Buffalo.
Some draft picks were also exchanged between the teams, and the Bills will be set to add a mass amount of talent in the 2018 draft.
The Bills now own:
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 11, 2017
* Chiefs' 2018 first-round pick
* Rams' 2018 second-round pick
* Eagles' 2018 third-round pick
A lot is going on in the NFL. Might we see even more action? Stay tuned...