Bears Announce 16-Man Practice Squad
Teams are starting to announce their full expanded practice squads, and we’ll be bringing you recaps all day. Just in is the Chicago Bears, who announced a full slate of 16 players:
- QB Tyler Bray
- RB Artavis Pierce
- WR Reggie Davis
- S Stephen Denmark
- WR Thomas Ives
- WR Rodney Adams
- TE Jesper Horsted
- OL Sam Mustipher
- OL Jamon Brown
- OL Lachavious Simmons
- OL Badara Traore
- DT Abdullah Anderson
- DE LaCale London
- LB Rashad Smith
- S Xavier Crawford
- K Cairo Santos
Bray has bounced between the practice squad and active roster the past couple of years now, and will serve as the third quarterback behind Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles. Santos is a veteran kicker with a good amount of experience. Right after he was cut we heard the Bears might be planning on him kicking Week 1 against the Lions if Eddy Pineiro still isn’t ready to come back from his groin injury.
Everybody on this list was with the Bears for camp except Brown, who was cut by the Falcons last month. He signed a three-year $18.75MM deal last March, and started nine games for Atlanta last season.
Giants Cut WR Corey Coleman
Another former first-round pick is getting cut loose. The Giants gave receiver Corey Coleman the axe today to make room for some of their waiver claims, the team announced.
Coleman has had a tough time in the pros since the Browns drafted him 15th overall in 2016. Injuries and clashes with the coaching staff caused Coleman to fall out of favor in Cleveland, and he was dealt to Buffalo after just two seasons. The Bills quickly cut him, and after spending some time on New England’s practice squad he found a home in New York.
He spent the back half of 2018 as the Giants’ kick returner, and was looking to compete for a real receiving role in camp last year. Unfortunately he went down with a torn ACL and missed the entire 2019 campaign. He made the initial 53 this time around but that lasted only about a day.
Giants beat reporters were pretty surprised by this move, as Coleman had been expected to be the kick returner yet again. Still only 26 Coleman figures to be a prime candidate for the practice squad, but his draft status no longer carries too much weight and he’s running out of chances.
Cardinals Sign DE Angelo Blackson
The Cardinals are bolstering their defensive line. Arizona has added recently cut former Texans defensive end Angelo Blackson to its 53-man roster, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
Blackson signed a three-year $12MM extension with Houston in March of 2019, but couldn’t make it through that pact. Blackson started 15 games last year and played around 40 percent of the defensive snaps, but he wasn’t too productive as he finished with only 20 tackles and no sacks.
A fourth-round pick back in 2015, Blackson was originally drafted by the Titans and spent his first two years in Tennessee. He was then cut and spent time on the Patriots’ practice squad before finding a home in Houston. He took a pay cut a few weeks ago which dropped his salary from $4MM to $2.5MM, but even that wasn’t enough to save his roster spot.
Eagles Cut CB Cre’Von LeBlanc
The Eagles are making a bit of a surprise move. Philadelphia is releasing cornerback Cre’Von LeBlanc, the team announced on Twitter.
The cut leaves Philly with only four cornerbacks on the roster, including a banged up Avonte Maddox, so another move is coming. Eagles beat writer Eliot Shorr-Parks tweeted that he thinks the team is hoping to be able to re-siign LeBlanc after they place somebody else on injured reserve. The team claimed LeBlanc off waivers midway through the 2018 season, and he ended up starting four games for them that year.
He signed a one-year extension in September of last year, but ended up missing most of 2019 with a foot injury. Still the team thought highly enough of him to use one of their IR/designated for return spots on him, and he appeared in four games with one start.
The Eagles have been cleaning house in their secondary this week, already waiving former second-round pick Sidney Jones and former third-round pick Rasul Douglas. It looks like LeBlanc may be brought back, and we’ll keep you posted if he is.
Cowboys Claim WR Malik Turner
The Cowboys have added another pass-catcher, as Dallas claimed former Seahawks and Packers receiver Malik Turner off waivers Sunday morning.
A 2018 UDFA from Illinois, Turner spent most of his rookie season on Seattle’s practice squad. He played a decent-sized role on offense for them last year though, appearing in 15 games and making three starts. Overall he played around 22 percent of the offensive snaps while also playing a big role on special teams. He finished the year with 15 receptions for 245 yards and a touchdown, averaging a robust 16.3 yards per catch.
Seattle originally tendered him as an exclusive rights free agent, then pulled that tender. He waited until August to sign with the Packers, then was cut yesterday. The Cowboys have a great receiving trio of Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and CeeDee Lamb, but they don’t have much after that so it makes sense to pick up someone like Turner and see if he can develop behind them.
Panthers Claim CB Rasul Douglas, OT Trenton Scott, DE Shareef Miller
The Panthers were busy on Sunday morning, making three waiver claims, which tied them for the most of any team. Carolina added cornerback Rasul Douglas, offensive tackle Trenton Scott, and defensive end Shareef Miller. 
Douglas and Miller came from the Eagles, while Scott had been with the Chargers. As Joe Person of The Athletic pointed out in a tweet, the new regime in Carolina has connections to all three of them, which makes a lot of sense as teams are looking for familiarity above all else right now. New Panthers player personnel director Pat Stewart was with Philly the past couple of years, while new offensive line coach Pat Meyer was with the Chargers.
Douglas was drafted by the Eagles in the third-round back in 2017, and he started at least five games in each of the past three seasons. He was a cutdown victim yesterday as Philadelphia chose to purge and start completely fresh in their secondary. He’s had at least ten passes defended in two of three seasons, and had three interceptions in 2018.
Philly drafted Miller in the fourth-round out of Penn State last year, but he was a disappointment and only appeared in one game. Now he’ll get another crack on a rebuilding defense. Scott is a 2018 UDFA from Grambling State who was suddenly thrust into a prominent role with Los Angeles last year after Russell Okung went down with blood clots.
Scott ended up starting nine games protecting Philip Rivers‘ blindside, and played 78 percent of their offensive snaps overall. Now he’ll be reuniting with Meyer as well as Okung, who was dealt to Carolina earlier this offseason. He struggled mightily at times protecting Rivers, but is still only 26 and now has some nice starting experience.
Steelers Sign S Sean Davis, Claim QB Josh Dobbs, Cut QB Devlin Hodges
The Steelers are bringing back a couple of familiar faces. Pittsburgh is signing safety Sean Davis and they’ve claimed quarterback Josh Dobbs off waivers from the Jaguars, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links).
In order to make room for Dobbs, the team has cut fellow quarterback Devlin Hodges. The Steelers drafted Davis in the second round in 2016, and he spent his first four years in Pittsburgh. He started 31 games between 2017-18, but missed almost all of last season due to injury. He signed a one-year deal worth $5MM with Washington this offseason, but couldn’t make it out of camp.
During these uncertain times, teams are clearly placing an emphasis on familiarity and system knowledge. Davis played closer to the line of scrimmage his first couple of pro seasons, but moved to free safety in 2018. The Steelers drafted Dobbs in the fourth-round in 2017, but he became expendable when they drafted Mason Rudolph the following year and they ended up trading him to Jacksonville.
Dobbs lost the battle in Jacksonville to be Gardner Minshew‘s backup, which is how he ended up on waivers. Ben Roethlisberger is coming off a season-ending elbow injury, and Pittsburgh apparently wants all the insurance they can get behind him.
Hodges was an incredible story last year, as the unheralded UDFA from Samford was promoted from the practice squad after Big Ben went down and ended up starting games. Hodges ended up starting six games, becoming a fan favorite in the process. He declined sharply as more tape on him became available, but he’ll still probably end up on Pittsburgh’s or someone else’s practice squad.
Steelers Trim Roster Down
The entire AFC North is now finished as the Steelers became the latest team to trim their roster to 53 players. Here are all the moves, we’ll recap the most notable ones at the bottom:
- QB Paxton Lynch
- DL Daniel McCullers
- WR Ryan Switzer
- DB Antoine Brooks Jr.
- RB Kerrith Whyte Jr.
- RB Trey Edmunds
- RB Wendell Smallwood
- WR Saeed Blacknall
- WR DeAndre Thompkins
- WR Deon Cain
- WR Amara Darboh
- OL Christian DiLauro
- OL John Keenoy
- OL Derwin Gray
- OL Anthony Coyle
- OL Jarron Jones
- TE Kyle Markway
- TE Kevin Rader
- DL Cavon Walker
- DL Henry Mondeaux
- DL Calvin Taylor
- LB Tuzar Skipper
- LB Jayrone Elliott
- DB Trajan Bandy
- DB John Battle
- P Corliss Waitman
- LS Liam McCullough
Lynch is probably the most well known of these names. The former Broncos first-round bust signed with the Steelers last year as insurance after multiple quarterback injuries. He’s running out of chances. Switzer has mostly contributed as a returner with Pittsburgh and Dallas, although he did have 36 catches with the Steelers in 2018.
Smallwood was one of the Eagles’ main running backs in 2018, but didn’t get too many touches with Washington last year. He’ll likely pop up somewhere else soon. Brooks Jr. was the Steelers’ sixth-round pick in this past draft, so he’s likely ticketed for the practice squad if he clears waivers.
McCullers has been with the Steelers the past six years so his is a significant departure even though the nose tackle only played 12 percent of the defensive snaps last season.
Ravens Cut Roster To 53
The Ravens became the latest team to get down to 53, cutting a slew of players on Saturday via a team announcement. With the moves, Baltimore ended a 16-year streak of keeping at least one undrafted rookie on the roster, another sign of the impact COVID-19 and the reduced offseason had on roster decisions.
Here are the 23 guys who were let go:
- TE Jerell Adams
- LB Aaron Adeoye
- RB Kenjon Barner
- DB Terrell Bonds
- C Trystan Colon-Castillo
- DT Aaron Crawford
- DB Khalil Dorsey
- G Parker Ehinger
- G Will Holden
- QB Tyler Huntley
- WR Jaylon Moore
- LS Nick Moore
- DB Josh Nurse
- DB Jordan Richards
- DE Chauncey Rivers
- TE Charles Scarff
- WR Jaleel Scott
- P Johnny Townsend
- DB Nigel Warrior
- LB Kristian Welch
- RB Ty’Son Williams
- DE Marcus Willoughby
- TE Eli Wolf
Barner played a somewhat prominent role on a couple of Eagles teams and won Super Bowl LII with the team. Since leaving Philly he’s bounced between New England, Carolina, and Atlanta. Ehinger started a game at guard for Baltimore last year, but couldn’t crack the roster this time around.
Richards was a full-time starter with the Falcons in 2018, and appeared in nine games with Baltimore last year, scoring a touchdown on a fumble recovery. Townsend was the Raiders’ punter in 2018, and just signed with the Ravens a couple of weeks ago. He probably never had too good a chance of beating out Sam Koch, who has been with the Ravens since 2006. Huntley had a very solid college career at Utah, but wasn’t viewed by too many as a legitimate pro passer.
Bengals Get Roster To 53
The Bengals became the latest team to get down to 53 on Saturday, releasing one player and waiving 23 others. We’ll recap the most notable names at the bottom:
- QB Brandon Allen (released)
- DT Freedom Akinmoladun
- DE Amani Bledsoe
- DT Trey Dishon
- QB Jake Dolegala
- TE Jordan Franks
- DE Kendall Futrell
- LS Dan Godsil
- S Trayvon Henderson
- WR Trenton Irwin
- OT Josh Knipfel
- WR DaMarkus Lodge
- CB Greg Mabin
- C Frederick Mauigoa
- DT Kahlil McKenzie
- CB Torry McTyer
- WR Stanley Morgan
- HB Jacques Patrick
- CB Winston Rose
- TE Mason Schreck
- S Maurice Smith
- LB Marcel Spears Jr.
- WR Scotty Washington
- TE Mitchell Wilcox
Allen was drafted in the sixth-round by the Jaguars back in 2016, but didn’t appear in a game until injuries forced him to start three games at quarterback for the Broncos last year. He was decent in his first game under center but quickly declined before relinquishing the job to Drew Lock. He couldn’t beat out 2019 fourth-rounder Ryan Finley for the right to hold Joe Burrow‘s clipboard this season.
McTyer is a 2017 UDFA who started a handful of games at corner for the Dolphins in 2018 and appeared in five with the Bengals last year. McKenzie was a sixth-round pick of the Chiefs in 2018 who is best known for being the son of former Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie.