Josh Hull

Jaguars Cut 14 Players

2:26pm: The Jags have also waived WR Lamaar Thomas and RB Terrance Cobb, bringing their roster count to 76, tweets John Oehser of Jaguars.com.

MONDAY, 9:08am: The Jaguars have also waived/injured CB Deion Belue, per O’Halloran (on Twitter). Jacksonville’s roster count now sits at 78.

SUNDAY, 3:21PM: In anticipation of roster cutdowns, the Jaguars waived 11 players, according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union:

Harris, a former seventh-rounder, started seven games over the past two years. As O’Halloran writes, just five of former general manager Gene Smith’s 26 draft picks still remain on the roster after this most recent purge. Jacksonville still needs to make four more cuts before Tuesday’s deadline.

Minor Moves: Saturday

Here are some minor transactions from around the NFL on Saturday:

  • The Rams have waived wideout Jamaine Sherman from injured reserve with an injury settlement, tweets Howard Balzer of USA Today Sports.
  • The Seahawks have waived defensive tackle Jesse Williams with the injured designation, tweets The Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta. The player has cleared waived and will be placed on the team’s injured reserve.

Earlier updates:

Matt Feminis and Ben Levine contributed to this post.

 

Jaguars Sign Three, Waive Three

The Jaguars have signed wide receiver Kenny Shaw, defensive tackle David Carter, and linebacker Josh Hull, according to Michael DiRocco of ESPN (via Twitter).

Shaw, who was cut from the Browns earlier this offseason, was a standout pass catcher at Florida State University in 2013. He caught 54 passes for almost 1,000 yards and six touchdowns as a senior, while also serving as the main punt returner for the National Champion Seminoles.

Carter has played 32 NFL games with the Cardinals, while Hull has appeared in 28 games with the Rams, according to DiRocco (via Twitter).

In order to make room for the three signings, the team has waived receiver Damian Copeland, defensive tackle Jordan Miller, and linebacker John Lotulelei.

Patriots Claim Tyler Gaffney, Cut Josh Hull

4:39pm: In order to make room for Gaffney, the Patriots have cut linebacker Josh Hull, according to Brian McIntyre (via Twitter). Hull, primarily a special-teamer over the last few seasons, had signed with New England back in April.

4:20pm: Former Stanford running back Tyler Gaffney has become the first 2014 draftee to switch teams, having been claimed by the Patriots a day after the Panthers waived-injured him, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). After Gaffney suffered a season-ending knee injury, Carolina had hoped to sneak him through waivers and move him to the injured reserve list, but the Pats stepped in to prevent that.

Prior to the final cutdown date in training camp, injured players with fewer than four years of service time cannot be placed on injured reserve until they pass through waivers, so the Panthers either had to hold onto Gaffney for a few more weeks or hope that he went unclaimed.

As Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk observes, the league’s so-called unwritten rules dictate that this type of waiver claim doesn’t occur often, but Bill Belichick and the Pats are no strangers to such a move. Two years ago, the club did the same thing when the Giants waived-injured tight end Jake Ballard, snatching him off waivers, much to the chagrin of Tom Coughlin. At the time, the Pats head coach dismissed the idea that there was anything wrong with the practice:

“I don’t know what unwrittens you’re talking about,” Belichick said. “Any time you put a player on waivers, you know there are 31 teams out there that can take him if they want him. We all know that. There is no secret about that.”

AFC Notes: Knighton, Browns, Nicks, Pats

After seeing a number of defensive tackles cash in on the free agent market this year, Terrance Knighton knows he could’ve made out well if he didn’t have one year remaining on his contract with the Broncos. However, despite a modest $2.5MM 2014 salary, the man known as “Pot Roast” won’t be holding out, writes Mike Klis of the Denver Post.

“I’m definitely going to honor the contract,” Knighton said. “I want to get something done and I’d like to get something done here. I don’t want to bounce around. But I’m at the point now where once the season starts, I’m just strictly football.”

Here’s more from around the AFC:

  • Speaking to Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com, CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz strongly suggested that it was former Browns GM Michael Lombardi who was trying to land Jim Harbaugh for the Cleveland coaching job.
  • Meanwhile, Lombardi’s replacement, Ray Farmer spoke to reporters today and made a handful of interest comments about the draft’s top prospects as well as the possibility of trading up or down. The Browns general manager expects to speak to all 31 NFL GMs in the week leading up to the draft, and about eight or 10 GMs in the 24 hours before draft night. Marla Ridenour of Ohio.com has the quotes from Farmer.
  • As he tells Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star, Ahmad Bradshaw did his part in recruiting former Giants teammate Hakeem Nicks to the Colts last month. “I went to his house a week before (his signing) and was just telling him how great it is over here,” Bradshaw said. “I think it kind of helped his decision. I was really encouraging him to come over.”
  • Recent Patriots signees Darrelle Revis, Julian Edelman, and Brandon LaFell all had deferred payments on their signing bonuses that won’t be paid out until March 31, 2015, writes Field Yates of ESPN.com. In total, more than $5MM of the trio’s $18MM in signing bonus money will be paid out next year. Yates also notes that Josh Hull‘s contract with the Pats is a minimum-salary deal with no bonuses.

Patriots Sign Josh Hull

1:27pm: The Patriots have officially announced the signing of Hull in a press release.

10:46am: Free agent linebacker Josh Hull has agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the Patriots, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Terms of the deal haven’t been reported yet, but I’d expect a minimum salary benefit contract for the 26-year-old.

Hull, a seventh-round pick in 2010, has spent four seasons in the NFL with the Rams and Redskins, playing primarily on special teams. The Penn State product was particularly effective in kick and punt coverage for Washington last season, racking up 12 special teams tackles in just nine games, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Free Agent Notes: Freeman, Jets, Daniels

ESPN’s Adam Schefter has a trio of re-signings (via Twitter): running back Matt Asiata (Vikings), wide receiver Jeremy Ross (Lions) and linebacker Craig Robertson (Browns). Each player signed an exclusive rights free agent tender to stay with their respect teams. The trio was solid in 2013; Asiata ran for 166 yards on 44 carries, Ross had six receptions and six kick returns and Robertson compiled 85 tackles.

Let’s take a look at some more free agent rumors…

Redskins Cut Bellamy, Hull, Mouton

The Redskins have released Josh Bellamy, Josh Hull and Ryan Mouton, according to Mike Jones of the Washington Post (via Twitter). All three were special-teams contributors/fringe roster players, though Hull paced the team with 14 special-teams tackles, points out CSN Washington’s Tarik El-Bashir (via Twitter). Hull became expendable thanks to the Redskins’ free-agent linebacker acquisitions.