The Seattle Seahawks need to prepare for Sunday as if they won't have access to wide receiver Percy Harvin, who hasn't been cleared from a concussion sustained against the New Orleans Saints in the divisional playoff round.
NFL news roundup: Percy Harvin not cleared for NFC Championship
Percy Harvin needs to pass concussion tests and Wade Phillips is still hunting for a job.
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James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
Harvin sustained two hits to the head in the playoff win, the second of which caused him to miss the remainder of the game. There is a chance he could still pass league-mandated post-concussion protocols, but time is running out for him to be cleared in order to play in the NFC Championship.
Playing without Harvin isn’t anything new to the Seahawks, who were without him for much of the season while he recovered from hip surgery.
Former Houston Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is waiting for the phone to ring, and believes being 66 years old could be playing a role in his unemployment.
Phillips took over a struggling defensive unit in 2011, quickly turning it into one of the NFL’s best defenses. Those numbers lost their luster in each of the next two seasons, eventually becoming a middle-of-the-road team defensively in 2013.
New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie is coming off a bad year and carries a high cap figure, making the veteran expendable.
Cromartie told NBC Sports be believes he will be released, which would make him an unrestricted free agent at the beginning of the league year. It’s a likely outcome given his near-$15 million cap hit in 2014.
Veteran wide receiver Sidney Rice may not be with the Seattle Seahawks in 2014, but that doesn’t mean he’s not selling his current team to would-be free agents.
Rice told Michael Silver of the NFL Network that once players arrive in Seattle, they'll "never want to leave," selling players on the idea of coming to a franchise that is one game away from appearing in the Super Bowl.
Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is working on a long-term extension with the team that selected him with the third-overall pick in the 2010 draft.
Suh is under contract until the end of 2014, but has a final year that can be voided. Sources in Detroit indicate desire to get a long-term deal done is mutual and could happen shortly.
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