Chigbo Anunoby

Browns Down To 53

The Browns have officially cut down to a 53-man roster, according to a team announcement.

The team’s cuts include receivers Taylor Gabriel and Marlon Moore. Undrafted out of Abilene Christian in 2014, the 5-foot-8, 176-pound Gabriel appeared in 29 of a possible 32 regular-season games with the Browns and started four. He amassed 64 receptions for 862 yards and a touchdown during that time, with most of those numbers coming as a rookie. Gabriel caught 36 passes on 72 targets and averaged a prolific 17.1 yards per reception in his first year, but that figure fell to a paltry 8.6 on his 28 grabs in 2015.

Moore, a six-year veteran, previously saw action with the Dolphins and 49ers before joining the Browns last season. He pulled in only seven receptions in 14 games in Cleveland.

The full list is below.

Released:

Waived:

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/8/16

Today’s minor moves:

  • The Lions waived wide receiver Damian Copeland and signed fellow wide receiver Alex Chisum, as Justin Rogers of The Detroit News tweets.
  • The Saints have signed long snapper Chris Highland, according to a source who spoke with Nick Underhill of The Advocate (on Twitter).
  • The Broncos have waived defensive end Kenny Anunike as he continues to be dogged by knee troubles, Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com tweets. In a related move, the Broncos have signed safety Ryan Murphy. Murphy spent last season on the Broncos’ practice squad and was famously sent home from the Super Bowl. Cameron Wolfe of The Denver Post (on Twitter) hears that Anunike passed his physical before being waived.
  • The Buccaneers signed offensive lineman Kelvin Palmer, as Roy Cummings of The Tampa Tribune tweets.
  • The Jets announced that they have signed wide receiver Anthony Kelly and defensive lineman Christo Bilukidi, waived/injured defensive lineman Julien Obioha, and placed wide receiver Chris King on the reserve/did not report list.
  • The Browns signed defensive lineman Chigbo Anunoby and waived fellow defensive lineman Kyle Rose, as Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer (on Twitter).
  • The Steelers removed Quinton Schooley from their injured reserve with an injury settlement, as Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • The Chargers announced that they have signed wide receiver Rico Richardson and defensive tackle Zamir Carlis. To make room, they waived offensive lineman Mike McQueen and punter Kasey Redfern. With Redfern out of the way, it appears that Drew Kaser has won the team’s punting competition.
  • The Redskins waived linebacker Steven Daniels with an injury designation, as John Keim of ESPN.com tweets.

Workout Notes: Titans, Brown, Johnson, Dixon

Just over seven months after he announced his retirement from the NFL, cornerback Cortland Finnegan had a workout today with the Patriots. Finnegan, 31, was one of the league’s worst cornerbacks in 2013, according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. PFF ranked Finnegan 109th out of 110 qualified corners, with a grade of -19.7 in just seven games. As such, it came as a bit of a surprise when Miami inked the former Ram to a two-year, $11MM deal in 2014. He might not be worthy of that kind of pay, but he could make for an intriguing depth option for the Pats or another team.

Here’s a rundown of today’s other workouts from around the NFL, with all links going to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post on Twitter, unless noted otherwise..

Vikings Reduce Roster To 53 Players

Having acquired offensive lineman Jeremiah Sirles from the Chargers earlier today, the Vikings needed to remove 23 players from their active roster, as the league moved from 75-man rosters down to 53-man squads. Minnesota announced all of its moves in one go, issuing a press release that features 22 cuts, along with cornerback Jabari Price heading to the reserve/suspended list.

Here are the players cut today by the Vikings:

  • T Babatunde Aiyegbusi
  • DT Chigbo Anunoby
  • DE B.J. Dubose
  • G Isame Faciane
  • C Tom Farniok
  • WR Donte Foster
  • WR Isaac Fruechte
  • S Anthony Harris
  • RB DuJuan Harris
  • DT Greg Hickman
  • DE Leon Mackey
  • LB Michael Mauti
  • LB Brian Peters
  • CB Shaun Prater
  • FB Blake Renaud
  • CB Josh Thomas
  • T Tyrus Thompson
  • C Bobby Vardaro
  • LB Brandon Watts
  • WR Ryan Whalen
  • RB Dominique Williams
  • OL David Yankey

Minor Moves: Monday

We’ll keep tabs on Monday’s minor transactions from around the NFL in this space, with the latest moves added to the top of the list throughout the day:

  • The Rams have signed to two players to reserve/futures deal, adding tight end Brad Smelley and punter Michael Palardy, per Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link).
  • The Giants have added a veteran to their offseason roster by singing linebacker Victor Butler to a reserve/futures deal, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Butler, 27, played for the Cowboys from 2009-12, but has bounced around in recent years, spending time with the Saints, Cardinals, and Colts in the past two seasons.

Earlier updates:

  • In addition to formally announcing the signing of DeMarcus Van Dyke (noted below), the Vikings also tweeted out word of their signings of defensive end Leon Mackey and defensive tackle Chigbo Anunoby.
  • The Jaguars announced three signings today, two of which had been previously reported. The new one is kicker Derek Dimke, who inked a reserve/futures contract with the team, per John Oehser of Jaguars.com (via Twitter).
  • Washington also confirmed a handful of signings that had already been reported, and added one more to the list. According to the club (via Twitter), former Abilene Christian wideout Braylon Bell has signed a futures deal.
  • Tight end Dorin Dickerson has signed a reserve/futures contract with the Titans, tweets Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean. The team removed Dickerson from their IR list back in August with a settlement, but worked him out again in November.
  • The Vikings have signed cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke to a one-year futures contract, a league source tells Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Van Dyke was placed on injured reserve by the Chiefs at the end of the 2014 preseason, and was later released with an injury settlement.
  • The Buccaneers have added three players to their list of reserve/futures signings for 2015, according to Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com (Twitter link). The most notable player in the trio is safety M.D. Jennings, who spent his first three seasons with the Packers before being signed and cut by the Bears in 2014. Tampa Bay also signed tight end Taylor Sloat and punter Chase Tenpenny, whose agreement was previously reported.
  • Having previously signed nine of their 10 practice squad players to reserve/futures contracts for the 2015 season, the Eagles made it a clean sweep today, announcing that linebacker Brandon Hepburn had inked a deal of his own (Twitter link).

Sunday Transactions: AFC South

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC South teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions are noted below.

Additionally, as of 11:00am CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. For the 2014 and 2015 seasons, changes were made to practice squad rules that allow teams to carry eight players instead of 10, and the eligibility requirements for those extra two spots were also loosened. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s AFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Houston Texans:

Indianapolis Colts:

Jacksonville Jaguars:

  • Claimed off waivers: Mickey Shuler, TE (via Ryan O’Halloran on Twitter)
  • Cut: Marcel Jensen, TE (via Aaron Wilson on Twitter)
  • Signed to practice squad (officially announced): Cody Booth, T; DeAndre Coleman, DT; Henry Josey, RB (via Adam Caplan on Twitter); Craig Loston, S; Stephen Morris, QB; Kerry Taylor, WR; Tony Washington, WR; Marcus Whitfield, LB. The team has also added cornerback Peyton Thompson, reports Michael DiRocco (via Twitter), although the team has not officially announced the signing.

Tennessee Titans:

Titans Cut Mooney, Mariani, Others

SATURDAY, 4:29pm : In addition to trading DE Lavar Edwards to the Cowboys, the Titans have announced the following roster moves:

Waived:

  • Maikon Bonani (K)
  • Moise Fokou (LB)
  • Will Poehls (OT)
  • Rico Richardson (WR)
  • Winston Wright (CB)

Placed on injured reserve:

FRIDAY, 3:36pm: The Titans have released fullback Collin Mooney and wide receiver Marc Mariani, according to Jim Wyatt of The Tennesseean (on Twitter). Terry McCormick of FOX 17 (on Twitter) adds defensive lineman Chigbo Anonuby to that list. As we passed along earlier today, offensive lineman Jeff Adams, defensive lineman Marcus Dixonand offensive lineman Justin McCray were also let go. Here’s the full list of Titans cuts from today: