NFL notebook: Saints RB Ingram suspended 4 games

New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram was suspended four games for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances, the NFL announced Tuesday. Ingram, who set career highs by rushing for 1,124 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, will not be eligible to rejoin the team's active roster until Oct. 1. Although Ingram is eligible to participate in all offseason practices and preseason games, the NFL Network, citing a source, reported that he skipped voluntary workouts and plans to bypass the Saints' organized team activities because he wants a new contract. Ingram has rushed for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons and has registered 154 receptions over the past three seasons, including a career-high 58 in 2017. New Orleans does have a capable replacement in the electrifying Alvin Kamara, who was named the NFL Rookie of the Year last season. --Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt said he's seeing progress while continuing his recovery from a left tibial plateau fracture he sustained nearly seven months ago. "I feel great," Watt said. "I feel very good. I mean, I'm not going to put any percentages on it or anything." Watt has seen each of his last two seasons derailed by injury, appearing in only eight of Houston's 32 games. He did not miss a game in his first five seasons while registering 74.5 of his 76 career sacks. The 29-year-old followed his third NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 2015 with a back injury that sidelined him for all but three games the following season. He played in just five contests last campaign before succumbing to injury in a 42-34 setback to Kansas City on Oct. 8. --The New England Patriots are working on a new contract for Rob Gronkowski after the five-time Pro Bowl tight end revealed that he's intent on playing in the 2018 season, multiple media outlets reported on Tuesday. The Boston Herald reported that the Patriots plan on "tweaking" the current deal for Gronkowski, who is slated to make $8 million in base salary -- including a $656,000 roster bonus and $250,000 workout bonus, per Spotrac. Gronkowski's contract runs through 2019 after which he is an unrestricted free agent. Gronkowski posted 69 catches for 1,084 yards with eight touchdowns over 14 games in 2017. A second-round draft pick of the Patriots in 2010, Gronkowski has been a touchdown machine since joining the team, reaching double digits in five of his eight seasons, including a career-high 17 in 2011. --The New Orleans Saints released tight end Coby Fleener just two seasons into his five-year, $36 million contract, the team announced. Fleener officially was let go with a "failed physical" designation. He was designated as a post-June 1 release, a move that will save the Saints approximately $2.5 million against this year's salary cap -- with another $3.2 million in "dead money" against their cap in 2019. The 29-year-old Fleener recorded 72 receptions for 926 yards and five touchdowns in 27 games since joining the Saints as a free agent in 2016. Fleener posted a career-low single-season total in catches (22) to go along with 295 receiving yards and two scores in 11 games in 2017. His campaign was cut short with a trip to injured reserve due to a concussion. --Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells isn't under the impression that the sky is falling in New England. Sure, Parcells has seen plenty of offseason headlines involving the Patriots -- from the previously uncertain playing futures of quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski to reported discord within the franchise. With that said, the 76-year-old Parcells is dismissing talk that the team is at the beginning of the end of its dynasty as nothing more than just hot air. "I don't pay any attention to that," Parcells told The Athletic. "Nobody knows what's what exactly. You are just hearing gossip and conjecture and opinion. I don't put much stock in that. "Having been in a position myself as a head coach, a lot of things are said about an organization, the coaching staff and the owner. Some of the things are just flat out not true. Yet they get out and they get publicized because they make good headlines. The only thing you got to do is watch the product on the field. When the season starts, all this offseason stuff, it doesn't mean anything. Nothing." --New York Jets chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson is setting the bar high for quarterback Sam Darnold. Speaking at the BTIG charity event in New York, Johnson told reporters that the Jets are about to take off after selecting Darnold with the third overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. "I honestly think (people) are going to look back 20 years from now and say this is the moment the Jets shifted into a new gear, that they became a great team," Johnson said. The Jets haven't been so great of late. They posted back-to-back 5-11 seasons and haven't made the playoffs since consecutive trips to the AFC Championship Game following the 2009 and 2010 campaigns. --The San Francisco 49ers signed North Carolina State defensive lineman Kentavius Street to a four-year rookie contract, the team announced. The 49ers selected Street in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft, even though he tore his ACL during a pre-draft workout for the New York Giants. Street underwent surgery on March 17 and likely will spend his rookie season on injured reserve. A torn ACL typically takes approximately nine months to heal. The 21-year-old Street is the fourth member of the 49ers' nine-player draft class to sign with the team, joining third-round selection Tarvarius Moore and seventh-round picks Jullian Taylor and Richie James. --The Washington Redskins re-signed left guard Shawn Lauvao, the team announced. Terms of the deal were not disclosed for Lauvao, who has spent his last four seasons with the Redskins, missing 23 games due to injury in that span. The 6-foot-3, 308-pound Lauvao was a third-round draft pick of Cleveland in 2010 and started all 16 games for the Browns in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The former Arizona State product started 15 games in his first season with the Redskins in 2014, but he was limited to three games in 2015 and saw his season ended by a neck injury last November. --The Indianapolis Colts signed free agent defensive end Chris McCain, the team announced. The Colts also waived tight end Randall Telfer with a failed physical designation. An undrafted free agent out of California, McCain is a veteran of four seasons with the Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Chargers. The 6-foot-5, 236-pound McCain, who has yet to make a start in the NFL, appeared in 15 games last season with the Chargers and registered 28 tackles, including six for loss, and a career-best 5.0 sacks. Telfer, a sixth-round pick of Cleveland in the 2015 NFL Draft, started 19 of 30 games over the past two seasons, catching five passes for 40 yards. --The Kansas City Chiefs signed sixth-round draft pick Tremon Smith, the team announced. The four-year deal was worth $2.6 million for the rookie cornerback, the Kansas City Star reported. Smith was a four-year starter at Central Arkansas, appearing in 48 games and registering 15 interceptions. He matched his career high with five picks as a senior. In other moves by the Chiefs on Tuesday, the team announced it released defensive tackle Stefan Charles and was awarded tight end Alex Ellis on waivers. In addition, running back Akeem Hunt was cut with a failed physical designation, according to the Houston Chronicle. --Free agent defensive tackle Terrell McClain could be suiting up for one of his former teams. Mike Fisher of 105.3 The Fan reported that McClain is scheduled to visit with the Dallas Cowboys, with whom he played from 2014-2016. McClain has met with the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers since being released by the Washington Redskins last week. McClain recorded 61 tackles, 3.5 sacks and three forced fumbles in 30 games during his time with the Cowboys. --The Buffalo Bills could be addressing two issues with running back Kenjon Barner's visit. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Barner's visit with the Bills, who would be well served to address both their backfield depth as well as special teams. Barner played with Bills star running back LeSean McCoy when the two were with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014. Barner spent the next two seasons in the City of Brotherly Love before once again returning to Philadelphia after a brief stint with the Los Angeles Chargers. He rushed 16 times for 57 yards and a touchdown and had five receptions for 56 yards during 13 games last season. Barner also averaged 19.4 yards on 10 kickoffs and 8.9 yards on 27 punts for the Eagles last year. --Free-agent running back Terrance West and defensive lineman Courtney Upshaw each paid a visit to the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, multiple media outlets reported. West appeared in only five games for the Baltimore Ravens last season before suffering a calf injury on Oct. 8. He finished with 138 yards and two touchdowns on 39 carries. The Baltimore Sun reported his visit. Upshaw, who spent the past two seasons with Atlanta, also visited Philadelphia, according to ESPN. A former third-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2014, West rushed for 673 yards and four touchdowns during his rookie campaign. The 6-foot-2, 273-pound Upshaw played at linebacker in his four seasons with Baltimore, appearing in all 16 games each year and making 51 starts. --Former coach Tony Dungy will be the 12th inductee into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Ring of Honor, the team announced. The ceremony will take place during the team's Monday night game against the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 24. Dungy, who was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016, posted a 54-42 record as coach of the Buccaneers for a franchise-best .563 winning percentage. He would later become the first African-American head coach to win a Super Bowl when he led the Indianapolis Colts past the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI. --San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster pleaded not guilty to felony domestic violence and weapons charges stemming from an incident involving his former girlfriend in February. The preliminary trial is set for Thursday, May 17. Foster is facing charges for domestic violence, forcefully attempting to prevent a victim from reporting a crime and possessing an assault weapon. Those charges were filed on April 12. The Santa Clara County District Attorney's office initial accounting of the events of Feb. 11 alleged that Foster dragged former girlfriend Elissa Ennis by the hair, punched her in the head eight to 10 times and physically removed her from the house. --Veteran defensive tackle Sammie Lee Hill will get a chance to revive his career. The NFL reinstated Hill on Tuesday, the NFL Network reported. Hill has not played in the league since 2015 with the Tennessee Titans. The 31-year-old Hill was suspended twice in 2016 for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. He was banned four games in August that year before receiving an indefinite suspension in November. The 6-foot-4, 331-pound Hill made 10 starts for Tennessee in 2013 before setting career highs with 13 starts and 3.0 sacks in 2014. --Kurt Warner is no different than a lot of former professional football players, wishing he could step on the field one more time. Yet less than a year removed from his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Warner said he recently talked to a coach and broached the idea of playing this season, per Patrick Daugherty of Rotoworld/NBC Sports. Warner, who will turn 47 next month, made mention of his desire to play one more time during a visit to the broadcast booth Monday night at a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. "I was actually ready to, for this coming season, I actually talked to a coach and my wife said, 'Go for it, I think it would be great,'" said Warner, per Yahoo Sports. "So I actually talked to a coach about possibly doing it if they needed someone, but then they went out and signed somebody. I don't think they thought I was serious. So I think we're completely done now." --Former NFL and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel was hospitalized in Texas following an adverse reaction to a prescription, according to a published report. Manziel was admitted to a hospital in Humble (Texas) on Monday, one day after attending the traveling JMBLYA Music Festival in Houston. He also participated in a golf tournament on Saturday hosted by former Texas A&M teammate and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans. "It seems like he had a reaction to an adjustment in his prescription. He's fine and headed home," spokesperson Denise Michaels told TMZ Sports.