Zach Wood

Saints Extend LS Zach Wood

The Saints’ long snapper for the past six seasons, Zach Wood now has another contract in place with the team. This agreement will make the veteran one of the league’s highest-paid long snappers.

While that certainly does not mean big dollars (by NFL standards), as teams barely clear the veteran minimum for this specialty job, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football notes Wood will secure $2.3MM guaranteed on a four-year deal that will through the 2027 season (Twitter link). The Saints have since announced the deal.

Thomas Hennessy (Jets) and Joe Cardona (Patriots) are the only snappers tied to guarantees higher than what the Saints are authorizing for Wood, 30. (Both players received $2.6MM guaranteed on their respective deals.) Venturing deeper into the long-snapping weeds, Underhill tweets Wood will see his $1.17MM 2023 salary fully guaranteed and a partial guarantee ($130K) of his 2024 payout. Wood’s previous Saints deal, agreed to in 2020, ran through the 2023 season; no guarantees remained on that pact.

An SMU alum who caught on with the Cowboys as a UDFA back in 2016, Wood initially signed with the Saints in September 2017. He has worked as New Orleans’ long snapper since the start of that season. One of the longest-tenured Saints, Wood has never missed a game during his six-season run.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/23/20

Today’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

Washington Redskins

ERFA Signings: 2/11/19

With free agency barely a month away, teams have begun to make moves regarding their exclusive-rights free agents. Here are Monday’s ERFA decisions:

Detroit Lions

New Orleans Saints

Saints To Sign LS Zach Wood

The Saints have signed long snapper Zach Wood, a source tells Nick Underhill of the Advocate (Twitter link). Wood will replace veteran Jon Dorenbos, who has been placed on the non-football injury list following the revelation that he’ll need heart surgery.

[RELATED: Saints Working To Rescind Jon Dorenbos Trade]

Wood, who spent four years as a defensive lineman at Southern Methodist University, transitioned to long snapper during his second camp with the Cowboys in 2017. While he was waived during final cutdowns after failing to overtake 13-year veteran L.P. Ladouceur, Wood will now get a chance to snap for the Saints.

Wood worked out for New Orleans today, but he wasn’t the only long snapper to do. John DePalma, Colin Holba, and Tanner Purdum all auditioned for the Saints today, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, as did Jeff Overbaugh, whose inclusion was reported earlier today.

Cowboys Trim Roster To 53

The Cowboys navigated the busy cut week and moved down to the 53-man limit. Here are the players Dallas removed from its roster to reach the regular-season standard.

Released:

Waived:

Placed on Reserved/Suspended list:

Placed on IR:

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/16/17

Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2017 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters.

Dallas Cowboys

Houston Texans

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Redskins

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/24/16

We’ll keep track of today’s draft signings and other minor moves here:

  • The Dolphins agreed to terms with two members of their draft class today, signing third-round receiver Leonte Carroo and seventh-round tight end Thomas Duarte, as Wilson reports (Twitter link). Miami now only has third-round running back Kenyan Drake left to sign, as PFR’s Zach Links detailed when looking at unsigned 2016 draftees earlier today.
  • The Lions waived offensive lineman Darius Johnson on Tuesday, as Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com writes. Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press adds (via Twitter) that Johnson was waived with an injury waiver designation. Johnson, a Middle Tennessee State product, signed with Detroit following the team’s rookie minicamp.
  • The Chargers placed safety Matt Daniels on the injured reserve list with a leg injury, Eric Williams of ESPN.com tweets. Daniels appeared in only one game for San Diego last season. Former Michigan linebacker James Ross has been signed to fill Daniel’s void, a source tells Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link).
  • After signing as an undrafted free agent out of UTSA, edge rusher Jason Neill was waived today by the Cowboys, according to Wilson (Twitter link). To replace Neil, Dallas signed fellow defensive end Zach Wood, tweets Wilson.
  • The Panthers placed tight end Jake McGee on waivers with an injury designation last week, and after reverting to injured reserve, McGee has now been cut from IR with an injury settlement, per Wilson (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

  • The Bills have signed second-round linebacker Reggie Ragland, according to his agents at Vanguard Sports (on Twitter). Ragland was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year after recording 97 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss, and six pass breakups. GM Doug Whaley has said that he expects to see Ragland in the starting lineup to begin the 2016 season.
  • The Raiders announced that they have signed free agent wide receivers Robert Herron and Nathan Palmer. To make room, the Raiders have waived/injured wide receiver Andre Debose and waived quarterback Garrett Gilbert. Palmer auditioned for New Orleans last week alongside a handful of notable names, including Hakeem Nicks. Herron was originally selected by the Bucs in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played in eight games his rookie season, posting six receptions for 58 yards (9.7 avg.) and one touchdown.
  • The Browns signed undrafted free agent wide receiver David Richards, Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets. The Arizona product first hooked on with Atlanta after the draft but was waived soon after.
  • The Jets waived tight end Jerome Cunningham and signed running back Romar Morris, as Brian Costello of the New York Post tweets.
  • The Buccaneers have placed safety Johnny Lowdermilk on the reserved-retired list, creating a second opening on the 90-man roster, Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.