NFL Notebook: 49ers LB Foster has another court date

Linebacker Reuben Foster of the San Francisco 49ers is due back in court on June 20 for a hearing in his marijuana possession arrest last January, the Tuscaloosa County (Alabama) District Court clerk's office confirmed to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero on Friday. Foster was arrested on the second-degree misdemeanor charge on Jan. 12 and released after posting $2,500 bond. Regardless of the outcome of the case, Foster could be subject to discipline under the NFL's substance abuse policy. In addition, Foster faces felony domestic violence and weapons charges related to his Feb. 11 arrest in Los Gatos, Calif. The judge overseeing that case will decide on May 23 whether to proceed to trial after Foster's former girlfriend recanted her domestic violence accusations against him during Thursday's preliminary hearing. Foster, 24, in his second year with the 49ers after a standout rookie season, has not participated in the team's offseason program since being charged with domestic violence in mid-April. The 49ers said he will not take part in the start of organized team activities on Monday and officials said they will consider his future with San Francisco after his legal problems are settled. --Wide receiver Julio Jones, who wants the Atlanta Falcons to renegotiate his contract, is not expected to be in attendance when the team begins OTAs next week, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media. Jones missed offseason workouts last season, but reportedly has been working out in Alabama this year. Quarterback Matt Ryan said recently that it's "huge" that Jones would be healthy for offseason work this time around. Rapoport said the Falcons are open to accommodating Jones' contract demands. The 29-year-old Jones is scheduled to make a base salary of $10.5 million in 2018 as part of the contract five-year deal he signed with the Falcons in 2015. The deal pays Jones an average of $14.25 million per year, which is eighth among NFL wide receivers. Jones, the Falcons' first-round pick (sixth overall) out of Alabama in 2011, is a five-time Pro Bowl selection who has 585 receptions for 9,054 yards and 43 touchdowns in 95 regular-season games over seven seasons in Atlanta. In addition, he has 61 catches for 834 yards and six touchdowns in eight playoff games. --The Oakland Raiders signed first-round draft pick Kolton Miller, the team announced. Miller, taken with the No. 15 overall pick in the NFL Draft after starring at left tackle during his final season at UCLA, signed a four-year contract that included a team option for a fifth year. The 6-foot-8, 310-pound Miller started 23 of 31 games with the Bruins, playing both tackle spots. He is expected to play right tackle with Oakland. Miller started all 13 games at left tackle as a junior in 2017, protecting the blind side of quarterback Josh Rosen, who went to Arizona with the No. 10 overall pick after the Cardinals moved up five spots in a trade with the Raiders. --Cornerback Richard Sherman of the San Francisco 49ers has progressed to running in his rehab from surgery on both Achilles tendons. The 30-year-old Sherman posted a video clip on his Instagram account that showed him running about 25 yards at the 49ers' training facility in Santa Clara, Calif. "Getting there," Sherman said in the post. Sherman, playing for the Seattle Seahawks, sustained the season-ending injury against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 10 of last season when he tore his right Achilles tendon and underwent surgery. On March 1, he had surgery on his left Achilles tendon. The Seahawks released Sherman in a salary cap-related move on March 9 and he signed a three-year contract with the 49ers two days later. Sherman hopes to be ready to go full speed at the start of training camp. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Sherman was a fifth-round pick (No. 154 overall) out of Stanford in 2011. He has 32 interceptions and 99 passes defensed on his career. --The Cleveland Browns are finalizing a trade to send cornerback Jamar Taylor to the Arizona Cardinals. Details of the deal are unclear, but the trade was initially reported by NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport and confirmed by Cleveland.com on Friday afternoon. Although Taylor started a career-high 15 games for the Browns last season, he became expendable after the team stockpiled cornerbacks in the offseason. Cleveland used the No. 4 overall pick in the NFL Draft to select Denzel Ward of Ohio State and added T.J. Carrie, E.J. Gaines and Terrance Mitchell via free agency. The Browns also made a trade to acquire Damarious Randall, who is expected to be moved to safety. Cleveland traded another cornerback, Jason McCourty, to New England. A second-round pick of the Miami Dolphins in 2013, Taylor had 62 tackles and 10 passes defensed last season. He had all three of his career interceptions with the Browns in 2016. --New York Giants star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is expected to attend organized team activities next week, according to ESPN. Beckham is lobbying for a new contract and has yet to be medically cleared to return to the field, but ESPN's Josina Anderson, citing a source, reported that Beckham will be at OTAs on Monday. A three-time Pro Bowl selection, the 25-year-old Beckham was limited to four games in 2017 before suffering a season-ending fractured ankle. Without their best offensive player, the Giants slumped to a 3-13 record last season. New York's offense ranked 31st in the league in scoring at 15.4 points per game. Beckham has 313 catches for 4,424 yards with 38 touchdowns in four seasons with the Giants. He was named the 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year. Set to play for $8.5 million on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal in 2018, Beckham is seeking a long-term contract extension. Giants owner John Mara told the media last week there is no sense of urgency to sign Beckham to a new deal, but he expressed no doubt that it will happen. --San Francisco 49ers defensive end Arik Armstead is recovering after undergoing minor foot surgery in the offseason. Armstead is expected to be available for most, if not all, of the team's spring drills, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reported, citing a team source. A first-round draft pick of the 49ers in 2015 (No. 17 overall), Armstead has been hampered by injuries in his brief career, although the foot procedure was described as a cleanup. The 6-foot-7, 292-pound Armstead appeared in all 16 games as a rookie, making one start, but he has been limited to a combined 14 games over the past two seasons due to shoulder and hand injuries. --The Indianapolis Colts signed wide receiver Kayaune Ross, the team announced. Ross, an undrafted free agent, had 21 receptions in two seasons at Kentucky. He had 19 catches during his senior season in 2017. To clear a roster spot for Ross, Indianapolis waived injured wide receiver Kolby Listenbee. If Listenbee clears waivers, he will revert to the team's Injured Reserve list. A sixth-round draft pick of Buffalo in 2016, Listenbee spent nine weeks on the practice squad of the Miami Dolphins before he was signed to the Colts' practice squad in December. --Baker Mayfield enjoyed quite the high-profile college career on and off the field. So it's not much of a surprise that that Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback is embracing the visibility that will accompany his team when it appears on HBO's "Hard Knocks" training camp documentary series for the upcoming season. "For me looking at it, and us as a team, I'd say it can be good if you handle it right," Mayfield told SiriusXM NFL radio, per the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I'll just say that. If you think about it as a way to get on camera and try to show off and do certain things and handle it the wrong way then that can be very negative, it can be a distraction. "But if you use it as a sense of, 'OK, I got to block out everything else and just focus on playing ball,' then that can be a great thing for us." HBO on Thursday announced the choice of the Browns for the "Hard Knocks" series, and the selection of Mayfield with the No. 1 overall in the recent NFL Draft certainly was among the reasons why. "The storylines in Cleveland are compelling, which make the Browns an ideal partner on Hard Knocks," NFL Films senior executive Ross Ketover said. "We're looking forward to showing NFL fans around the world what the Haslams (owners), John Dorsey (general manager), Hue Jackson and the coaching staff are doing to rebuild the team and reboot one of the most iconic franchises in sports." Cleveland stumbled to an 0-16 record in 2017, becoming the second team in league history to go winless for a 16-game season. It also put the Browns in position to land Mayfield, who initially was projected to be the fourth quarterback taken in the 2018 rookie class. --Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Jets have signed third-round choice Nathan Shepherd to a four-year deal. Shepherd is the fourth of six 2018 picks to agree to a deal, leaving first-round quarterback Sam Darnold and fourth-round tight end Chris Herndon as the unsigned members of the group. Shepherd took an unusual path to the NFL. He grew up in Canada and opened his college career as a linebacker at Simon Fraser University, but dropped out to go to work because he couldn't afford tuition. He returned to school at Fort Hays State in 2015 and moved to the defensive line after moving up to 315 pounds. All of that makes Shepherd older than the typical rookie at 25, but he impressed scouts during games and at the Senior Bowl before landing with the Jets last month. --Wide receiver Vincent Jackson did not play in the NFL last season after being injured in 2016, and his agent, Jonathan Feinsold, told ESPN his client is "very happily retired." The 35-year-old Jackson played 12 seasons in the NFL, seven with the San Diego Chargers and the last five with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is involved with charity and business work in Tampa. Jackson, a second-round pick (61st overall) of the Chargers out of Northern Colorado in 2005, made 540 receptions in his career for 9,080 yards and 57 touchdowns. He had more than 1,000 yards receiving in six seasons and played in three Pro Bowls. The 6-5, 230-pound Jackson sustained a torn left ACL that limited him to five games in 2016. --The Cleveland Browns claimed defensive lineman Marcell Frazier on waivers from the Seattle Seahawks, the team announced. To make room for Frazier on the roster, the Browns waived LB Austin Calitro. Frazier, a 6-5, 260 pound rookie out of Missouri, was signed by Seattle as an undrafted free agent on May 4. He appeared in 36 games at Missouri and recorded 87 tackles, 16.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Calitro spent 13 weeks on the Browns' practice squad in 2017. --The New England Patriots re-signed offensive lineman Jason King and released rookie wide receiver Chris Lacy, the team announced. King entered the NFL with New England as a rookie free agent out of Purdue last year. After he went through training camp with the Patriots, he was released before the start of the regular season and was to the New England practice squad, but was released again and signed to the Baltimore Ravens practice squad on Oct. 31. He was released by Baltimore on Nov. 14 and re-signed to the Patriots' 53-man roster 14 days later. He was released on Dec. 2 before re-joining the practice squad on Dec. 5. Lacy, 22, was signed by the Patriots as a rookie free agent out of Oklahoma State on May 11.