Ravens Sign 15 UDFAs

The Ravens have signed the following undrafted free agents:

After neglecting to draft a wide receiver last week, the Ravens have added four WRs in White, Patrick, Adeboyejo, and Board. The Ravens currently project to have Mike Wallace and Breshad Perriman as their top two WRs with Chris Moore, Michael Campanaro, Vince Mayle, Chris Matthews, and Keenan Reynolds pushing for supporting roles.

On Friday, the Ravens officially signed first-round cornerback Marlon Humphrey and four other draft picks.

Panthers Sign Entire Draft Class

The Panthers have signed their entire 2017 draft class. One day after inking first-round selection Christian McCaffrey, all seven Carolina draft picks are now officially in the fold:

Elder and Butker were the last to agree, but they put pen to paper after Friday morning’s rookie camp session. As shown in PFR’s team-by-team draft breakdown, the Panthers are the first team to sign their entire draft class.

According to Lance Zierlein of NFL.com, Samuel’s game is reminiscent of Oregon product Josh Huff. Opinions are split on how this well-rounded receiver’s game will translate as a pro.

It’s kind of like with Jalin Marshall last year,” a regional scout told Zierlein. “How do you use him? He’s not a running back and his routes and hands really aren’t that good. Marshall went undrafted. Samuel is a better athlete but they are about the same size and give you the same concerns with how to use them.”

According to Albert Breer of The MMQB (Twitter link), there is offset language in McCaffrey’s deal.

Packers Sign 15 UDFAs

Busy day in Green Bay. The Packers have signed 15 undrafted free agents while also formally signing five of their draft picks. The complete rundown is below.

Draft pick signings:

As a senior at Purdue, Yancey hauled in 49 receptions for 951 yards and 10 touchdowns. Yancey offers good size for the position at 6’2″, but scouts aren’t sure if he’ll be able to make it in the NFL because of his lack of speed burst. He’s also struggled with drops throughout his career, as NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein writes.

UDFAs:

Clark, who played basketball at St. Francis before transferring to Marshall to play football, has only one year of organized football on his resume.

Bills Sign 13 UDFAs

The Bills have signed 13 undrafted free agents. Here’s the full list:

The signing of Johnson, a Buffalo product and graduate of nearby Sweet Home High school, should make fans happy. He could perhaps find inspiration in fellow UB running back Branden Oliver who went undrafted out of college but went on to make an impact in the NFL.

The Bills’ roster now stands at 92, so we should see at least a couple of cuts go down shortly.

Jets To Audition RB Khiry Robinson

The Jets are bringing running back Khiry Robinson back on a tryout basis, as Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets. Robinson signed with the Jets before the 2016 season but a pair of unfortunate injuries limited him to just one game in green. "<strong

Robinson broke his leg during the Jets’ preseason finale last year. He managed to return to the field in December only to injure his leg yet again and was subsequently placed on the injured reserve. In his one game with the Jets, the running back totaled 22 yards on eight carries.

Robinson’s best season came in 2014 with the Saints when he had 362 rushing yards and three touchdowns off of 76 carries. He also added another eight receptions for 63 yards in that campaign.

The Jets’ current RB depth chart features Bilal Powell, Matt Forte, Brandon Wilds, Brandon Burks, Romar Morris, and sixth-round running back Elijah McGuire.

Buccaneers To Audition WR Riley Cooper

Former Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper will try out for the Buccaneers during their rookie camp, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan (on Twitter). Cooper, 29 in September, has not been heard from since he was released by Philly more than a year ago. Riley Cooper (vertical)

[RELATED: Buccaneers Sign 14 UDFAs, Cut Two Players]

At this stage, it sounds like Cooper may have to settle for a one-year, non-guaranteed pact and it’s no certainty that he can make the Bucs’ roster. Cooper was a favorite of former Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, but coach Doug Pederson & Co. didn’t hold him in the same esteem. Not long ago, Cooper signed a five-year, $25MM deal with the team that included $10MM in guarantees. Now, he’s on the fringe of the NFL.

Cooper’s best season came in 2013 when he established new career-highs in receptions (47), receiving yards (835), and receiving touchdowns (8). He followed that up with a decent 2014 season (55 catches, 557 yards, three touchdowns), but his targets decreased by more than 50% in the following season.

Ravens Sign Rookie CB Marlon Humphrey

The Ravens announced that they have signed first-round cornerback Marlon Humphrey. In addition to the Alabama product, linebacker Tyus Bowser (second round), guard Nico Siragusa (fourth round), offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor (fifth round), and safety Chuck Carr (sixth round) have also inked their deals. Marlon Humphrey (vertical)

Humphrey was widely ranked as one of the top three cornerbacks available in what was a very deep class for the position. Depending on who you asked, some talent evaluators had him as the second-best corner on the board, behind Marshon Lattimore but ahead of Gareon Conley and Adoree’ Jackson. Humphrey wound up becoming the second cornerback drafted when the Ravens selected him at No. 16, though Conley’s draft week incident might have had something to do with that.

Humphrey, a 6’1″, 196-pound athlete, had 36 total tackles, two interceptions, and five passes defensed in his final year at Alabama. One of those interceptions was a pick six in the season opener against USC.

With those five under contract, only two Ravens draft picks remain unsigned. Baltimore will look to finalize things with third-round defensive end Chris Wormley and third-round linebacker Tim Williams in the coming days.

Jets Sign 8 Undrafted Free Agents

The Jets have signed eight undrafted free agents, according to a team announcement:

  • Austin Calitro, LB (Villanova)
  • Xavier Coleman, CB (Portland State)
  • Brisly Estime, WR/PR (Syracuse)
  • Anthony Firkser, FB/TE (Harvard)
  • Patrick Gamble, DL (Georgia Tech)
  • Connor Harris, LB (Lindenwood)
  • Javarius Leamon, OT (South Carolina State)
  • Gabe Marks, WR (Washington State)

Marks left Washington State as the Pac-12’s record holder for career receptions, but still didn’t hear his name called after 250+ selections on draft weekend. Some believe that Marks went undrafted because of the perception that his stats were inflated by the Cougars’ pass-heavy offense. For his part, Marks rejects that notion.

Guys are trying to call us ‘system receivers’ like that’s a thing,’’ Marks told the Seattle Times in February. “It’s not a thing. You’ve still got to do it. It doesn’t matter the system that you are in. You’ve still got to catch the ball. Somebody has to catch the ball and score the touchdowns. If you just put some guy out there that couldn’t play, it wouldn’t work. I just get an opportunity to catch more passes — I can understand that. But I’m still getting open. So the whole ‘system receiver’ thing kind of bothers me a little bit.”

Estime probably had interest from at least one other team since he received an above-average $15K package ($5K bonus, $10K base) to sign with the Jets (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero of USA Today).

Bengals Sign 13 Undrafted Rookies

The Bengals have signed a baker’s dozen of undrafted free agents:

Nickerson is the son of Hardy Nickerson Sr., a former Pro Bowl linebacker and NFL coach. The elder Nickerson currently serves as Illinois’ defensive coordinator and that allowed him to coach his son towards the end of his collegiate career. Nickerson Jr. has been lauded for his work ethic, but some scouts question whether he can stick at the next level.

He may get a legacy grade from some teams based on his tackle production and his bloodlines, but I’m struggling to find consistent tape of him where he looks like an NFL linebacker,” a regional scout for an NFC team told NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein.

The Bengals already have five running backs under contract, including rookie Joe Mixon, so tailbacks Jarveon Williams and Stanley Williams may be facing an uphill battle as they try to make the final cut.

Raiders Looking To Add Middle Linebacker

The Raiders are in the market for a middle linebacker. Coach Jack Del Rio tells the NFL Network that MLB is the team’s biggest area of need. Perry Riley (vertical)

I don’t know that we’ve adequately addressed our middle linebacker position, to be honest,” Del Rio said (transcript Scott Bair of via NBC Bay Area). “I think we have some work to do there. The rest of our roster is pretty well situated, but we’ll be looking for a linebacker and we’ll continue to look, whether it’s the waiver wire, trades or available guys out there, veterans on the street. We’ll continue to look.”

The Raiders did select Wake Forest’s Marquel Lee in the fifth round, but it sounds like Oakland wants to add someone in the middle that can make an impact right away. The Raiders could fill that void by circling back to free agent Perry Riley and GM Reggie McKenzie recently said that the door isn’t completely closed on a reunion.

Riley, 29, had 48 total tackles, two forced fumbles, and one pass deflection in eleven games for Oakland last season. He’s one of the most high-profile linebackers available, but we haven’t heard much about him since free agency opened in March. Despite the apparent lack of interest, the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus indicate that Riley actually had a career year in 2016 with an 84.8 overall score that dwarfs his work in the previous three seasons. He ranked as the 15th best linebacker in the NFL last year, per PFF.