Broncos To Waive RB Royce Freeman
After making multiple waiver additions Wednesday, the Broncos cleared space for the new arrivals by cutting Royce Freeman, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Freeman was set to go into his fourth season with the Broncos, but the team made multiple offseason moves to affect the former third-round pick’s standing. Denver signing Mike Boone and drafting Javonte Williams in Round 2 threatened Freeman’s roster spot, but after Boone suffered a quadriceps injury during training camp, the veteran runner made the team’s initial 53-man roster. But he is now headed for the waiver wire.
The Broncos claimed running back Nate McCrary off waivers from the Ravens on Wednesday and also added cornerback Mike Ford via the wire. McCrary is a rookie UDFA out of Division II Saginaw Valley State. He will be in line to play behind Williams and Melvin Gordon, which was to be Freeman’s role with Boone sidelined. The Lions waived Ford on Monday, doing so after he played three seasons with the team.
Acquired during John Elway‘s GM run, Freeman saw his playing time steadily decrease in Denver. The ex-Oregon Duck lost out to Phillip Lindsay as the Broncos’ primary back early, and after playing the B-side to Lindsay from 2018-19, Freeman was Denver’s third-stringer last season — after the team signed Gordon in free agency.
The between-the-tackles runner did average 4.9 yards per carry in 2020, but that came on just 35 totes. Freeman, 25, totaled just more than 1,000 yards over his first two seasons, rushing for eight touchdowns in that span.
Falcons To Place G Josh Andrews On IR
The Falcons will make an adjustment to their preferred starting lineup come Week 1. The team had planned to use Josh Andrews as one of its starting guards, but a recent injury will force the team to change course.
Andrews suffered a broken hand during practice Tuesday, and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets the Falcons will place him on IR to start the season. While this surgery is not expected to sideline Andrews too long, he must sit until at least Week 4.
Atlanta added Andrews in late March, signing the former Eagles, Colts and Jets blocker to a one-year deal worth the veteran minimum. Andrews and Chris Lindstrom were expected to be the Falcons’ Week 1 guard starters. Andrews, 30, has started just four career games — all coming with the Jets last season.
Patriots To Re-Sign Brian Hoyer
The Patriots are set to re-sign Brian Hoyer, according to Albert Breer of The MMQB (Twitter link). Hoyer will be back on the roster before Week 1, providing support to new starter Mac Jones.
The Patriots stunned many by releasing Cam Newton on Tuesday and raised eyebrows further by dropping Hoyer, especially since Jarrett Stidham is on the reserve/PUP list. With Stidham out for the next six weeks (or longer), they had to sign another signal caller to sit behind Jones.
Not counting this latest brief hiatus, Hoyer has had three stints with the Patriots throughout his 12-year career. He earned a Super Bowl ring as Tom Brady‘s backup in 2018 and, following a 2019 stint with the Colts, he re-joined the Patriots when Brady’s left for Tampa. Hoyer started one game for New England, completing 15 of his 24 pass attempts for 130 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a fumble. The veteran didn’t end up seeing the field again following that Week 4 loss to the Chiefs.
Jets Cut Bless Austin
The Jets have released cornerback Blessuan Austin (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). Meanwhile, they’ve claimed linebacker Quincy Williams off waivers from the Jaguars, putting him in the same locker room as his brother, Quinnen Williams.
The Jets shopped Austin in recent days but, apparently, they couldn’t find a taker. Austin appeared in eleven games with ten starts last year, registering 63 stops, four passes defensed, one forced fumble, and three tackles for loss along the way. The Rutgers product is still only 25 years of age, but the Jets are moving to even younger options — rookies Brandin Echols, Isaiah Dunn, Jason Pinnock, and Michael Carter III remain on the CB depth chart along with Bryce Hall and Javelin Guidry.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, the Jets dropped quarterbacks Josh Johnson and James Morgan. That leaves Mike White as the team’s QB2 behind rookie Zach Wilson.
Bears To Sign WR Breshad Perriman
Not long after his Lions release, Breshad Perriman landed another deal with an NFC North squad. The Bears agreed to terms with the veteran wide receiver on a one-year deal, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
This will mark Perriman’s sixth team, though his Lions stint did not produce a regular-season cameo. Detroit cut Perriman ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, doing so despite guaranteeing him $2MM earlier this year. The former first-round pick will now try to carve out a role in Chicago.
Although Perriman did not impress the Lions, with a training camp injury impeding his Motor City progress, he has surpassed 500 receiving yards in each of the past two years — doing so with the Buccaneers and Jets.
The former Ravens draftee will join a Bears team looking for targets alongside Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney. Excepting Mooney, Chicago’s receiver room is filled with veteran presences. The team signed both Marquise Goodwin and Damiere Byrd this year, and both made the Bears’ 53-man roster.
Additionally, the Bears will bring back cornerback Artie Burns, Schefter adds (via Twitter). They created one roster spot by moving Danny Trevathan to IR, and Burns will rejoin the team’s active roster. The Bears initially signed Burns in 2020, but the former Steelers first-round pick suffered a torn ACL that led to an IR placement last summer. They re-signed him in March only to cut him Tuesday. Burns is now back with the team.
Cowboys Claim QB Will Grier
The Cowboys have claimed quarterback Will Grier off waivers (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). Grier missed the cut in Carolina, but he’s now found a spot on Dallas’ 53-man roster.
The Cowboys now have three QBs on the roster with Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush, and Grier. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Rush and Grier will stick throughout the year, but Rush will at least stay on board while Grier learns the playbook.
Grier isn’t the ex-Panthers QB that some Cowboys fans were hoping for, but he offers plenty of upside in his own right. The Panthers used a third-round choice on him in 2019 — lots of other clubs had their eyes on the West Virginia product too. To date, Grier has two games (both starts) to his credit, but they were pretty lackluster. Those rookie outings saw four interceptions, zero TDs, and a 53.8% completion rate.
Ravens To Sign LB Josh Bynes To Practice Squad
Shortly after the Panthers released Josh Bynes, the veteran linebacker reached an agreement with a familiar team. The Ravens are bringing Bynes back, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic tweets.
Because Bynes is a vested veteran, he did not need to pass through waivers after his Panthers exit. Bynes entered the NFL 10 years ago as a Ravens UDFA and found his way back to Baltimore in 2019. The Ravens will return to this well ahead of Bynes’ age-32 season.
The Ravens kept four inside linebackers — starters Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison and backups Chris Board and Kristian Welch — so Bynes profiles as high-end insurance, at the very least. It would seem likely the veteran off-ball ‘backer will make his way onto Baltimore’s active roster again at some point.
Bynes spent last season with the Bengals, operating as a 16-game starter. He made 99 tackles during his one-season Cincinnati stay. The 2019 Ravens used Bynes as a seven-game starter, after he largely worked as a backup and occasional first-stringer during his initial Baltimore stint from 2011-14.
Lions Claim K Austin Seibert
The Lions have claimed kicker Austin Seibert from the Bengals, per the league’s official transactions wire. Meanwhile, they’ve also claimed wide receiver Khadarel Hodge from the Browns.
The Lions dropped Randy Bullock and Zane Gonzalez on Tuesday, leaving them with zero kickers at the end of the business day. Now, they’ve got Seibert, a 24 year-old (25 in November) leg with 21 career games to his credit.
Seibert enjoyed a solid 2019 with the Browns, banking 86.2% of his field goals including 9-of-12 from 40-49 yards out. The Browns dropped him after a bad showing in September, leading him to the Bengals. Seibert went 6-of-8 on FG tries in Cincinnati, but lost out on the kicking competition this year.
Panthers Claim G Michael Jordan
The Panthers did not let Michael Jordan get past them on the waiver wire. They submitted a claim and landed the former Bengals guard Wednesday.
Jordan started 19 games with the Bengals over the past two years, doing so after Cincinnati selected him in the 2019 fourth round. The Panthers will give the interior blocker another shot. Two years remain on MJ’s contract.
Pro Football Focus has not been especially impressed with Jordan through two seasons, though he did not fare as poorly in 2020 as the advanced metrics site viewed him as a rookie. Jordan graded just inside the top 60 among the 80-plus full-time guards PFF assessed last season.
An Ohio State product, Jordan will join a Panthers team that houses Pat Elflein, John Miller and recent sixth-round picks Dennis Daley and Deonte Brown at guard.
Jaguars Claim WR Tyron Johnson
The Jaguars are using their No. 1 waiver priority on a young wide receiver. Tyron Johnson will join the Jags’ 53-man roster via waiver claim, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
Johnson flashed as a Chargers rookie last season, but the Bolts included him on their list of Tuesday cuts. Johnson did not advance at all on the waiver wire and will head to the rebuilding Jaguars. This likely will not be the Jags’ lone waiver claim Wednesday.
Jacksonville cut ties with a host of wideouts Tuesday, including Phillip Dorsett, Laquon Treadwell and Devin Smith. In Johnson, Urban Meyer‘s team will have a younger talent joining the likes of D.J. Chark, Marvin Jones and Laviska Shenault.
During a season in which both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams dealt with injuries, Johnson contributed to Justin Herbert‘s rise. The Oklahoma State product averaged an impressive 19.9 yards per catch, hauling in 20 passes for 398 yards and three touchdowns.