Patriots Release TE Michael Williams
The Patriots announced that they have released tight end Michael Williams. Williams missed all of last season with a torn ACL. 
[RELATED: Patriots, David Andrews Agree To Extension]
Before his lost season, Williams saw time in 15 games for the Pats as a blocking tight end. He also had three catches for 26 yards in those games and started nine contests in that campaign.
Williams first entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the Lions. At one point, the Lions planned to use him as an offensive lineman, but he reverted back to his old position when he was traded to New England. We don’t know where he’ll wind up next, but we presume that he’ll be at TE.
In other Patriots news, the team applied a little-used tender to keep LeGarrette Blount under some degree of team control. Before that measure, at least two teams were giving real thought to signing the running back.
Cowboys Sign 2 Quarterbacks
The Cowboys have added a host of undrafted free agents, including two quarterbacks. Here’s the full list plus some details on the team’s newest signal callers:
- Austin Appleby, QB (Florida)
- Woody Baron, DT (Virginia Tech)
- Brian Brown, WR (Richmond)
- Michael Coe, C (North Dakota)
- Kennan Gilchrist, LB (Appalachian State)
- Blake Jarwin, TE (Oklahoma State)
- Joseph Jones, LB (Northwestern)
- Levon Myers, OT (Northern Illinois)
- Lewis Neal, DE (LSU)
- Cooper Rush, QB (Central Michigan)
- Nate Theaker, G (Wayne State)
- Jahad Thomas, RB (Temple)
- Lucas Wacha, LB (Wyoming)
Appleby started out at Purdue but transferred to Florida for his final collegiate season. In 2016, he threw for ten touchdowns against seven interceptions with a 60.8% completion percentage in his nine games. It probably wasn’t as strong of a showing as he would have liked before shifting his focus to the NFL. Rush, meanwhile, started in all four seasons at Central Michigan and received high praise for his football IQ during the draft process.
Both players will compete for a spot behind Dak Prescott and Kellen Moore. It’s not clear whether the Cowboys want to carry three QBs on the roster, but it helps that the team did not select any QBs in the draft.
Jarwin will received a higher-than-average bonus of $15K, per Tom Pelissero of USA Today (on Twitter).
Lions Sign LB Jarrad Davis
The Lions announced that they have signed eight of their nine draft picks, plus 14 undrafted free agents. The complete list:
Draft Signings:
- 1-21: Jarrad Davis, LB (Florida)
- 2-53: Teez Tabor, CB (Florida)
- 4-124: Jalen Reeves-Maybin, LB, Tennessee
- 4-127: Michael Roberts, TE (Toledo)
- 5-165: Jamal Agnew, DB (San Diego)
- 6-205: Jeremiah Ledbetter, DT (Arkansas)
- 6-215: Brad Kaaya, QB (Miami)
- 7-250: Pat O’Connor, DE (Eastern Michigan)
UDFAs:
- Brandon Barnes, TE (Alabama State)
- Alex Barrett, DE (San Diego State)
- Dontez Ford, WR (Pittsburgh)
- Tion Green, RB (Cincinnati)
- Nick James, DT (Mississippi State)
- Leo Koloamatangi, OL (Hawaii)
- Desmond Lawrence, CB (North Carolina)
- Storm Norton, OT (Toledo)
- Michael Rector, WR (Stanford)
- Maurice Swain, DT (Auburn)
- Noel Thomas, WR (UConn)
- Josh Thornton, CB (Southern Utah)
- Robert Tonyan, TE (Indiana State)
- Jeremiah Valoaga, DE (UNLV)
As far as draft picks go, Northern Illinois wide receiver Kenny Golladay is the only player that has yet to put pen to paper. The reason for the delay is not known, but third round picks often take longer to sign than other picks as things are less rigid in those slots.
Davis was said to be a target of the Dolphins at No. 22, so it’s a good thing that the Lions were up at No. 21. Davis impressed scouts at his Pro Day when he posted a 4.56 40-yard dash and 38.5 inch vertical jump. As shown on Roster Resource, Davis may be in for a starting role in 2017.
Tabor fell to the Lions at No. 53 but some draft analysts, like NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah, felt that he should have gone much higher. The Florida product suffered a hamstring injury during his workout with Detroit and was unable to audition for other teams, so that might explain why he was still available. Then again, we’ve seen “pretend injuries” before, so it’s possible there was a wink-wink deal between Tabor’s team and the Lions.
Kaaya was said to have one of the highest football IQs of any quarterback in this year’s class. It remains to be seen whether he has the arm to make it as an NFL quarterback, but the Lions believe that he can be a solid backup QB, at minimum.
According to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (on Twitter), Valoaga got $22K guaranteed ($12K bonus, $10K base) to sign with Detroit. Typically, UDFAs get around $5K, so that’s a sign that Valoaga had at least a few teams interested in adding him to the 90-man roster.
Bears To Meet With Victor Cruz
Finally, things are picking up for Victor Cruz. The former Giants wide receiver will meet with the Bears on Monday, Kim Jones of NFL Network tweets. 
This marks the second known scheduled meeting for Cruz and the third reported team with interest in the veteran. Cruz will head to Jacksonville later this month to meet with the Jaguars and the Ravens are working to line up a visit as well.
The Bears have already made major changes to their wide receiver group after moving on from Alshon Jeffery and parting ways with Eddie Royal. Now, they project to have major roles for free agent additions Kendall Wright and Markus Wheaton plus the returning Cameron Meredith and Kevin White. Cruz would probably have to take a backseat to most of those younger talents if he comes to Chicago, but he might be able to carve out a role in the slot. Some of Mike Glennon‘s early struggles in Tampa Bay were attributed to a lack of a slot option, so he would probably having Cruz.
Giants Audition CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu
We have an Ifo Ekpre-Olomu sighting. The former Oregon cornerback is among the players trying out for the Giants today, the team announced. 
Ekpre-Olomu has had some terrible luck in recent years. Coming into the league, he was viewed as a talent with high potential, but a torn ACL and a dislocated bone in his right knee caused him to fall to the Browns in the seventh round of the 2015 draft. He later wound up with the Dolphins, but he tore his other ACL in practice before the 2016 season got underway. Now, it appears that he is healthy, so he is going to try to hook on with the Giants.
Before the Dolphins scooped up Ekpre-Olomu last year, the Saints, Bills, and Steelers all reportedly tried to claim him, so he is well regarded around the league. The question now is whether he can get back to his old form. Unfortunately, he has not been on the field since the 2015 Rose Bowl.
Kicker Travis Coons is also working out for the Giants today. Coons played for the Browns in 2015 and made 88% of his field goals. Offensive lineman Michael Brewster (who played in The Spring League) and tight end Justice Cunningham are also among those auditioning.
Seahawks Sign 8 UDFAs
The Seahawks have always placed an emphasis on signing undrafted free agents that can make a difference and they hope they have unearthed a few gems in this year’s class. Today, the Seahawks announced the signing of eight UDFAs, along with deals for four of their draft picks. Here’s the full rundown:
UDFAs:
- FB Algernon Brown (BYU)
- QB Skyler Howard (West Virginia)
- DT Jeremy Liggins (Mississippi)
- LB Otha Peters (Louisiana-Lafayette)
- WR Darreus Rogers (USC)
- G Jordan Roos (Purdue)
- TE Tyrone Swoopes (Texas)
- LB Nick Usher (Texas-El Paso)
Draft signings:
- S Tedric Thompson (fourth round)
- OT Justin Senior (sixth round)
- WR David Moore (seventh round)
- RB Chris Carson (seventh round)
Roos will receive a larger-than-usual $20K package for signing with Seattle, as Tom Pelissero of USA Today tweets. Roos, a 6’4″, 302 pound guard out of Purdue, was a four-year starter for the Boilermakers. Even though he was not invited to the NFL combine, the Seahawks kept an eye on him and quickly scooped him up after the draft.
As detailed by Matthew Martinez of the Star Telegram, Howard took an unorthodox route to the NFL. Coming out of high school in Texas, Howard didn’t garner any college consideration. After establishing himself at a JUCO college in California, Howard found his way to West Virginia where he finally got attention on a national level.
“I knew I was going to play in college, whether I had offers or not,” Howard said. “I knew it was going to happen, I just didn’t know the winding road would take me to West Virginia and I’d come full circle to train for the draft in my own backyard.”
Follow Pro Football Rumors On Instagram
Pro Football Rumors recently launched an official Instagram account (@ProFootballRumors) and it’s a must-follow for NFL fans. Each day, we share conversation-inspiring images about the hottest topics in football. From there, we invite you to give us a like, weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section, and even share the link with a friend. 
Eager to see some of this year’s top draft picks in their new game day uniforms? Our Instagram churned out jersey swaps for Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky, Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette, and Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson moments after they were drafted.
Yearning for a preview of Jamaal Charles in a Broncos jersey? We’ve got you covered. We also did a fantastic jersey swap of Adrian Peterson with the Saints. Speaking of New Orleans, if you want to know what Johnny Manziel would look like in a Saints uni (he did meet with coach Sean Payton, after all), we’ve got that too.
So, if you’re not already, follow Pro Football Rumors on Instagram today!
NFC West Rumors: Kaepernick, Cardinals
Take this one with a grain of driveway salt, but a sociologist with close ties to Colin Kaepernick says that three teams have contacted the quarterback since the start of free agency.
“They’ve asked, ‘Can he play? Does he want to play?’ “ Harry Edwards told USA Today’s Jarrett Bell. “The last question I can’t answer. The first question, absolutely. If Kaep makes up his mind, he wouldn’t only go in and make a team, he’d put pressure on somebody to start.”
Meanwhile, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell Mike Florio of PFT that no teams have made inquiries to the former 49ers QB or his reps. And, as noted by NBC Sports Bay Area, Kaepernick’s girlfriend also says the QB has not received interest from teams. There’s no way of knowing for sure, but it sounds like Edwards might not be as looped in as he claims to be.
Here’s more on Kaepernick and other items from the NFC West:
- The No. 1 reason Kaepernick is unsigned is that he is not considered to be a starting-caliber player by any NFL evaluator anymore, Albert Breer of The MMQB tweets. Breer went on to explain a hypothesis that we’ve heard many times before: Kaepernick’s controversial views could be overlooked if he was a starting-caliber player, but teams do not want their backup QB to be a potential distraction for the team. For what it’s worth, we learned on Thursday that Kaepernick is supposedly back to his playing weight of ~230 pounds.
- The Cardinals have five quarterbacks on the roster and they will be keeping all five of them for a while, a source tells Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic (on Twitter). In addition to starter Carson Palmer, the Cardinals also have Drew Stanton, new addition Blaine Gabbert, Zac Dysert, and Texas A&M product Trevor Knight under contract. It’s possible that the Cardinals see one or more of these players as trade bait. It’s also possible that the Cardinals just want to ensure that they come out of the summer with the two best backups for Palmer.
- The Rams waived quarterback Aaron Murray on Thursday, just two months after signing him.
- The Seahawks released cornerback Perrish Cox and a bunch of other players earlier this week.
Texans Sign Deshaun Watson
The Texans have signed the bulk of their 2017 draft class. Only third round running back D’Onta Foreman remains unsigned. Here’s the full list of every Houston draft pick who is now under contract: 
- 1-12: Deshaun Watson, QB (Clemson)
- 2-57: Zach Cunningham, LB (Vanderbilt)
- 4-130: Julien Davenport, OL (Bucknell)
- 4-142: Carlos Watkins, DL (Clemson)
- 5-169: Treston Decoud, S (Oregon State)
- 7-243: Kyle Fuller, C (Baylor)
The Texans were said to be targeting Watson for several weeks and we learned on draft night that it wasn’t just a smokescreen. Houston traded this year’s No. 25 overall pick and its 2018 first round choice to get the No. 12 selection from the Browns in order to take the Clemson QB. Watson was universally regarded as one of the top QBs in this year’s class and some might argue that the athletic signal caller has more upside than any of his peers. Now, the rookie might have a chance at wrestling the starting job away from Tom Savage.
Cunningham was projected by some as a first round pick and he almost went No. 23 overall when the Giants were on the clock. Luckily for Houston, the Giants wound up taking Ole Miss tight end Evan Engram at No. 23 and passed on him again at No. 55, allowing them to grab the Vanderbilt product all the way down at No. 57.
Photo via Pro Football Rumors on Instagram.
Extra Points: Gordon, Cowboys, Ansah
Suspended Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon is currently without an agent, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Joby Branion terminated their relationship “a couple weeks ago,” a source told Florio. Branion succeeded Drew Rosenhaus, who parted ways with Gordon several months back, as Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com notes (on Twitter). Branion had been working to help get Gordon reinstated, a bid the NFL denied Thursday. The league’s decision came on the heels of a recent conversation between Gordon and commissioner Roger Goodell, per Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole, who adds that Gordon is working out in Gainesville, Fla., and seems to be in good shape physically (Twitter links).
More from around the league:
- Before the Cowboys chose Michigan defensive Taco Charlton with the 28th pick in the draft, they spoke with the Ravens about trading up to No. 16 for Missouri DE Charles Harris, reports Charean Williams of the Star Telegram. However, the teams’ discussions died when the Ravens’ target, Alabama cornerback Marlon Humphrey, was still on the board for their pick. Harris ended up going 22nd overall to the Dolphins.
- The Cardinals released Daryl Washington on Thursday, but the linebacker told Mike Jurecki he’d have wanted to stay with the team had it been willing to pay him a salary higher than the league minimum (Twitter link). Understandably, Arizona wasn’t interested in making any kind of a real investment in Washington, who hasn’t played a down since 2013 because of repeated violations of the NFL’s substance abuse policy. The league reinstated Washington last month.
- Lions defensive end Ziggy Ansah says that he will ask Ndamukong Suh for advice on contract talks, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes. “I haven’t talked to him about it yet, but I will,” Ansah said. The Lions are hoping to lock Ansah down with a contract extension, despite a down year in 2016.
- Wide receiver Eddie Royal, whom the Bears released Thursday, is still recovering from the turf toe that ended his 2016 campaign early, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. While Royal is making progress from December surgery, he’s not ready to return to the field, per Rapoport.
Zach Links contributed to this post.