Jaguars To Place CB Tramaine Brock On IR
The Jacksonville youth movement continues to plow full steam ahead. The Jaguars will place cornerback Tramaine Brock on injured reserve and end his season, according to Greg Auman of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The long-time veteran was one of very few older players on the hollowed-out roster. The Jags have completely stripped down the team, especially the defense, over the past year. The secondary is going to look completely unrecognizable after former starters Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye were both traded within the last year.
Jacksonville is expected to start rookie first-round pick C.J. Henderson and 24-year-old Tre Herndon on the outside. They’re being thrown into the fire without much help around them. Brock has bounced around the league in recent years, spending time with six different teams over the past four seasons.
The 2010 UDFA spent the first seven years of his career in San Francisco, becoming a reliable starter with the 49ers and landing a couple of decent paydays. He started seven games with the Cardinals last year and four with the Titans, also starting during Tennessee’s run to the AFC Championship Game. He turned 32 last month.
Bills Cut WR Duke Williams
As the Bills shed down to 53 they’ve made a difficult cut, letting receiver Duke Williams go, according to Dan Fetes of ABC 13 WHAM (Twitter link).
Williams originally entered the league as an UDFA with the Rams back in 2016. After being waived by them he latched on with the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL, spending the next couple of seasons in Canada. He signed with Buffalo early in 2019, impressing in camp but getting released at final cuts.
He was brought back on the practice squad and then promoted, playing three games before suffering a shoulder injury. He came back in Week 17 with the team resting starters, catching six passes for 108 yards. A camp and preseason star, many Bills fans grew fond of the Auburn product. He should resurface soon, quite likely on Buffalo’s practice squad if no other team scoops him up first.
Seahawks Cut OLB Shaquem Griffin
Shaquem Griffin‘s time in Seattle has come to an end, for now. The outside linebacker was cut by the Seahawks Saturday, Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic reports (Twitter link).
Since he was still on his rookie contract Griffin will now go on waivers and have a chance to be claimed by the other 31 teams. The UCF product was a fifth-round pick back in 2018. A true inspiration, Griffin had his left hand amputated when he was four and defied all odds to make it to the NFL.
He’s also the twin brother of Seahawks starting cornerback Shaquill Griffin. He played around nine percent of the defensive snaps last season while also playing a big role on special teams. It’s quite possible that the Seahawks will look to bring Griffin back on the practice squad if he clears waivers. This surely isn’t the last we’ve heard of him.
Titans To Activate OLB Vic Beasley From NFI
Vic Beasley‘s bizarre time with the Titans is taking a step in the right direction. Beasley will be activated off the non-football injury list and moved to the active roster for the team’s opening 53-man group, veteran beat writer Paul Kuharsky tweets.
Beasley signed with Tennessee on a one-year deal worth up to $12MM with $9.5MM in guarantees back in March. He then failed to report to camp on time and went radio silent, with seemingly nobody knowing where he was for a while. Eventually he resurfaced after a couple of weeks, reporting after the unexcused absence last month.
That wasn’t the end of the saga however, as he promptly failed his physical and was placed on the PUP list. He’s slowly been working his way back, and it’s unclear how much if at all he’ll be able to play in Week 1. The Titans signed him hoping he could boost their undermanned pass-rush, and didn’t do much else to address it this offseason.
The eighth overall pick of the 2015 draft, Beasley was mostly a disappointment with the Falcons. He had one great year when he had 15.5 sacks in 2016, but he notched only 18 over the past three years combined. The Titans are reportedly still going hard after Jadeveon Clowney, likely in large part due to the Beasley drama. Nevertheless, it does sound like Beasley is at least making strides.
Contract Re-Workings: Bucs, Evans, 49ers, Ford, Steelers, DeCastro, Seahawks, Moore
On this busy Saturday morning we’ve got a few contract re-workings to pass along. A few teams, all franchises hoping to compete for a championship this year, are freeing up some cap space, possibly to pursue some of the veterans left on the market:
- Mike Evans, WR (Buccaneers): Tampa freed up $9.5MM by converting some of Evans’ salary into a signing bonus, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The Bucs are loading up for their potential Tom Brady title run, having just signed Leonard Fournette earlier this week, and it’s possible they aren’t done yet. Evans is under contract through the 2023 season.
- Dee Ford, DE (49ers): San Francisco also created $9.5MM in space by doing the same thing with Ford, Yates notes in the same tweet. Ford was a disappointment in his first year with the 49ers in 2019 as he battled various health issues that limited him to 11 games, and the organization reportedly shopped him before the draft. He’s signed through the 2023 season as well, although there are outs earlier. He’s also reportedly dealing with a relatively minor calf issue at the moment.
- David DeCastro, OL (Steelers): Pittsburgh created $3.85MM with the signing bonus trick with DeCastro, Yates notes. The veteran guard has two years left on his five-year, $50MM pact.
- David Moore, WR (Seahawks): Moore has reworked his deal to stay in Seattle, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. This one sounds like more of a pay cut in order to keep his roster spot rather than the vets above who just had salary converted to signing bonuses. Rapoport notes that Moore had been set to make $2.13MM under his RFA tender, and he presumably took less than that to make the 53. He had 17 receptions for 301 yards and two touchdowns last year.
Chiefs Release RB DeAndre Washington
Running back DeAndre Washington won’t end up seeing the field as a Chief. Kansas City has informed him he’ll be released, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
Washington signed with the team on a one-year deal back in April. The former Raider had figured to mix in behind rookie starter Clyde Edwards-Helaire, but Andy Reid is clearly comfortable with Darrel Williams and second-year pro Darwin Thompson as the backups.
Washington had previously seemed like a good bet to make the roster after Damien Williams opted out of the season due to COVID-19. He received the most significant run of his career with the Raiders last year, getting 108 carries thanks to an injury to Josh Jacobs.
He became the starter for the last two weeks, carrying the ball 40 times for 162 yards. He finished the season with 387 yards and two touchdowns, adding 36 receptions for 292 yards. The Texas Tech product should catch on soon with a team in need of a running back who can catch the ball out of the backfield.
NFC West Notes: Cardinals, Seahawks, 49ers
The Cardinals used their first-round pick on Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons, widely regarded as one of the more versatile draft prospects in recent memory. Arizona defensive coordinator Vance Joseph told the media Tuesday that Simmons would primarily be a linebacker in the NFL, but that overall he’d be a “problem-solver” for the defense, via Darren Urban of the team’s official site.
Urban notes that Joseph said while he might not be able to do all the things he did in college, he still wants “Isaiah to be Isaiah.” Simmons played safety, corner, and linebacker at Clemson. “”If it’s a job that we think he can do, we will put him out there,” Joseph said. That echoes what Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury has said since the draft, and it sounds like the team still isn’t sure exactly how they’re going to use him.
- Speaking of Cardinals linebackers, they also signed De’Vondre Campbell to a one-year deal worth up to $8.5MM this offseason. In his comments to the media Joseph revealed that Campbell was the team’s top free agent target, but they initially didn’t think they would be able to get him because of his price. Eventually, Campbell lowered what he was asking for in exchange for a one-year deal. A 2016 fourth-round pick, Campbell spent the past four years as a starter with the Falcons. Along with Simmons, Arizona is counting on him to help revamp one of the league’s worst units.
- The Seahawks did some shuffling on their offensive line the past couple days, releasing veteran interior linemen D.J. Fluker and Justin Britt. Turns out, Britt was released with a failed physical designation, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. It’s not shocking considering Britt’s 2019 season ended back in October with a torn ACL. As Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweets, this could reduce the cap space Seattle gains a bit since they’ll have to pay him a settlement if he doesn’t sign with another team in 2020. Condotta also notes that it’s one reason the release took a while. Still, we’ve heard Britt hasn’t suffered any setbacks with his knee, so the proven starter should land on his feet with a new team at some point.
- Longtime 49ers left tackle Joe Staley recently decided to hang up his cleats, and the team acquired Trent Williams as a short-term replacement. They’ve indicated they won’t be ironing out an extension with Williams any time soon, and it’s highly possible he’s a one-year rental. That would leave them in need of another successor, and one potential option could be right tackle Mike McGlinchey. However, the 2018 first-round pick said he has no idea if he’ll ever become a left tackle and that he feels very comfortable on the right side, via Matt Maiocco of NBCSports.com (Twitter link). This echoes what we heard back in March when Staley was still mulling retirement, and it doesn’t sound like the team has any plans to move the Notre Dame product.
AFC Notes: Tunsil, Dalton, Ross, Bengals
Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil recently landed a three-year, $66MM extension that easily made him the league’s highest-paid offensive lineman, and he did it without an agent. Tunsil negotiated the contract himself and he’s quite happy he did, writes Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com. Tunsil said he thinks he “started a trend by not having an agent doing my deal,” and that he “wanted to reset the market and become the highest-paid offensive linemen just so all the young players under me [know] that anything is possible.”
During the press call Tunsil revealed that he first started talking with the Texans back in February, and that he was insistent on signing a shorter-term deal so he could re-enter free agency again when he was still young. Tunsil is locked up through the 2023 season now, and he’ll still only be 29 when he hits free agency in the spring of 2024. This could become a growing trend in the league, and Tunsil said he spoke with Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner, who also negotiated his own contract, during the process. “You just have to bet on yourself, and that’s what I did, and I got the deal done,” Tunsil declared. “I’m extremely proud of myself and the team. I’m still speechless, even though it was a couple of days ago they made the announcement. I’m still speechless.”
Here’s more from the AFC:
- The draft came and went, and the Bengals were unable to find any takers for Andy Dalton. They’ve been trying to trade their former starting quarterback for a while, and Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic thinks they will end up releasing him shortly after failing to unload him over the weekend. It looks like Cincy is about to finally give up on trading Dalton and the nearly $18MM he’s owed for 2020. We heard shortly before the draft that the Bengals hadn’t ruled out keeping him, but that was likely just a ploy to try to keep his trade value alive. The game of quarterback musical chairs has pretty much ended, and there aren’t many teams out there still looking for a veteran signal-caller. The Patriots have been rumored as an option, and it’ll be very interesting to see where Dalton ends up signing once he gets released. The Colts apparently sniffed around before opting to sign Philip Rivers.
- Speaking of the Bengals, the draft also spelled bad news for receiver John Ross. Dehner writes that the selection of former Clemson receiver Tee Higgins at the top of the second-round “does pretty much confirm this will be Ross’ last year in Cincinnati.” The Bengals drafted Ross ninth overall in 2017, and his career got off to a very bumpy start. Injuries limited him to only three games and zero catches as a rookie, and he had only 210 yards in 2018. This past season he got off to a torrid start, racking up 270 yards and three touchdowns in the first two weeks of the season. He cooled off quickly after that though, and ended up missing another eight games due to injury. He finished with 506 yards in eight games, but the progress apparently still didn’t inspire much confidence within the organization. The Bengals will have to decide this week whether or not to pick up Ross’ fifth-year option for 2021, and Dehner makes it sound like that isn’t too likely.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/26/20
Today’s minor moves:
Green Bay Packers
- Signed exclusive rights tenders: WR Jake Kumerow, DT Tyler Lancaster
Houston Texans
- Signed: LS Anthony Kukwa
New England Patriots
- Released: Keionta Davis
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Released: RB Darrin Hall, WR Jamal Custis, S Tray Matthews
Davis signed with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2017, and spent two of the past three seasons on injured reserve. He played a significant role on the 2018 team, starting three out of the six games he appeared in and winning Super Bowl LIII with the team. He was just re-signed last month, but didn’t last long.
All three of the players Pittsburgh cut spent time on their practice squad last year, but none of them have appeared in a regular season game yet.
Seahawks To Release Justin Britt
The Seahawks continue to overhaul their offensive line. Just a couple hours after we heard that the team was releasing guard D.J. Fluker, they’ll also be cutting center Justin Britt, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times confirmed (Twitter link).
Aaron Fentress of The Athletic was the first to report the news on Twitter. Britt spent the past six seasons in Seattle, and was a full-time starter for all of them. Originally a tackle and then a guard his first two years in the league, he made the switch to center in 2016. Britt was heading into the final year of his contract and the team will save $8.5MM in cap space by cutting him, although they will incur a $2.9MM dead cap hit, Condotta notes in the Times.
The release of Fluker saved about $3.7MM, so the Seahawks cleared a significant amount of space today. They’ve been making moves on the offensive line all offseason, and the unit is going to look considerably different in 2020. Joey Hunt, who started the second half of last season, former second-round pick Ethan Pocic, and B.J. Finney are all candidates to start at center. Finney was signed to a two-year, $8MM pact this offseason.
Britt started the first eight games of last season before tearing an ACL in an October game against the Falcons. Britt will turn 29 in May, and we haven’t heard much about his recovery, although Sirius XM NFL insider Adam Caplan did tweet that he hasn’t had any setbacks. Coming off the devastating injury he’ll likely have to settle for a prove-it deal despite playing at a high level in the past.
It’s possible the Seahawks are attempting to clear space for a bigger move like re-signing the still-available Jadeveon Clowney, but that’s far from definite.