Minor NFL Transactions: 9/11/17
Monday’s minor moves from around the NFL:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: LB Philip Wheeler
- Waived: LB Scooby Wright
Carolina Panthers
- Released with injury settlement: WR Brenton Bersin, C Gino Gradkowski, OL Chris Scott
- Waived with injury settlement: S L.J. McCray
Denver Broncos
- Promoted from practice squad: DT Tyrique Jarrett
Detroit Lions
- Signed: LB Nick Bellore
- Waived: OT Storm Norton
Los Angeles Chargers
- Promoted from practice squad: WR Geremy Davis
- Waived: CB Jeff Richards
Minnesota Vikings
- Released with injury settlement: QB Taylor Heinicke
New Orleans Saints
- Promoted from practice squad: LB Adam Bighill
New York Jets
- Released with injury settlement: LB Corey Lemonier
- Waived with injury settlement: WR Lucky Whitehead
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Released with injury settlement: S Jordan Dangerfield
Texans, Duane Brown Not Talking
The Texans and holdout Duane Brown have not engaged in any discussions about a new contract since the left tackle has been away from the team, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. Brown has been pushing for a raise dating back to the spring, and his dissatisfaction with his current compensation caused him to miss voluntary workouts in May, mandatory minicamp in June, all of training camp and the preseason, and the Texans’ Week 1 loss to the Jaguars.
Brown’s absence from training camp subjected him to a $40K-per-day fine, and it led the Texans to place him on the reserve/did not report list, thereby reducing his 2017 salary from $9.65MM to $9.4MM. He also lost his $411K game check Sunday, which will be the case for as long as he doesn’t show up. Brown will need to report by Week 8 in order to get credit for an accrued season, Florio notes. The 32-year-old indicated last week that he does plan to play in 2017.
While holding out has backfired on Brown to this point, it’s clear the Texans need the three-time Pro Bowler. Their offense was in disastrous form on Sunday against Jacksonville, which dubbed itself #Sacksonville on Twitter after taking down Texans quarterbacks Tom Savage and Deshaun Watson 10 times in a 29-7 rout. Unsurprisingly, Pro Football Focus assigned horrid grades to Texans tackles Kendall Lamm and Breno Giacomini for their roles in the loss. The outlet has typically given favorable reviews to Brown, a nine-year veteran who has started in all 132 career appearances.
Brown’s under Texans control through next season at a combined $19.15MM, though it’s clear that figure doesn’t suffice for the longtime franchise linchpin.
Allen Robinson Done For Season
Jacksonville crushed AFC South rival Houston to open the season on Sunday, but if the Jaguars are going to continue to thrive in 2017, they’ll have to do it without their top wide receiver. The team confirmed Monday that Allen Robinson suffered a torn ACL in his left knee Sunday and will miss the remainder of the season, per the Associated Press.
This seemed like the probable outcome for Robinson after he went down with a non-contact injury in the first quarter against the Texans and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game. While the Robinson-less Jaguars still managed to coast to a 29-7 victory, having to make do without him for the remainder of the year will be a tall order.
Robinson posted at least 73 catches, 151 targets, 883 yards and six touchdowns in each of the previous two years, for one, and the Jags’ receiving corps already took a hit earlier this month when they placed rookie fourth-round pick Dede Westbrook on injured reserve. They’re now down to Marqise Lee and Allen Hurns, the latter of whom has fallen out of favor since last season, as their top options in a passing game that doesn’t inspire much confidence with Blake Bortles at the helm.
The 24-year-old Robinson, meanwhile, may have played his final game as a member of the Jaguars. The 2014 second-round pick is scheduled to hit free agency after the season and could’ve made a case for a monster contract with another big year. Instead, thanks to his knee injury, he’ll enter the offseason in a less-than-ideal position.
Rams Extend Johnny Hekker
The Rams have signed punter Johnny Hekker to a record extension that will tie him to the team for the next six seasons, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports (on Twitter). It’s a two-year deal featuring $10MM in guarantees, the most ever for a punter.
Hekker was already under Rams control through 2020 on the six-year, $18MM extension he inked in 2014. That deal still stands as a record pact for a punter and included $7.38MM in guarantees. Combining that accord and his new contract, Hekker stands to rake in $21MM through 2022, according to Schefter (Twitter link).
The 27-year-old Hekker has been resoundingly successful since the Rams pulled him off the scrapheap as an undrafted free agent from Oregon State in 2012. The seventh-year man has racked up three Pro Bowl bids and first-team All-Pro nods apiece, including in each of the previous two seasons, and was a second-team All-Pro in 2014. Hekker led the NFL in average yards per punt (47.9) two years ago and paced the league in net yardage per attempt (46.0) last season, when Football Outsiders ranked him as the game’s premier punter.
While the Rams cruised to a 46-9 rout over the Colts on Sunday, they still had to deploy Hekker five times in their season opener. He averaged 43.6 yards per boot on those kicks.
Steelers Release Cobi Hamilton
Cobi Hamilton was a fixture in the Steelers’ receiving corps in 2016, but he won’t be a member of the group this year. The team has released the wideout, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.
Thanks largely to superstar Antonio Brown, the just-reinstated Martavis Bryant, second-round pick JuJu Smith-Schuster and Eli Rogers, the Steelers are deep at receiver. With those four serving as locks to make the team, Hamilton joined a few other familiar Steelers receivers who vied to stay on their roster during the preseason. It wasn’t to be for the 26-year-old Hamilton, a sixth-round pick of the AFC North rival Bengals in 2013 who didn’t catch a pass in Cincinnati but made somewhat of an impact in Pittsburgh.
In 2016, his lone season with the Steelers, Hamilton started in eight of 11 appearances and caught 17 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns. He added another four receptions and a TD in three playoff games last January.
Also a former Eagle, Dolphin and Panther, the well-traveled Hamilton’s next NFL organization will be his sixth.
49ers’ Don Jones May Have Torn ACL
49ers safety Don Jones posted on his Snapchat that he suffered a torn left ACL in the team’s preseason finale against the Chargers on Thursday, per James Brady of Niners Nation. He’s now likely to head to injured reserve, according to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link). Placing Jones on IR would reduce the 49ers’ roster to 70 players, 17 above the 53-man limit.
Jones joined the 49ers on a two-year deal at the outset of free agency in March, before which the 2013 seventh-round pick spent time with six organizations. He divided 2016 between Cleveland and Houston and appeared in 13 games, logging his first-ever start along the way.
While Jones is technically a defender, playing time has been scarce on that side of the ball for the 27-year-old. Jones has mainly functioned as a special teamer, and he played nearly 40 percent of the Texans’ ST snaps during his nine-game stint with them last season.
Titans To Acquire David King From Chiefs
The Titans are acquiring defensive end David King from the Chiefs, Adam Caplan of ESPN tweets. Kansas City will receive a conditional 2018 seventh-round pick, Tennessee announced.
Tennessee will be the fifth organization for the 27-year-old King, who entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the Eagles in 2013. King never saw any regular-season action in Philadelphia or Cincinnati, where he had a stint from 2013-14. He debuted in 2014 as a member of the Seahawks, with whom he appeared in seven games over two seasons. The rest of his on-field experience (three games) came in Kansas City over the previous two years. Thus far, King has picked up four tackles and 1.5 sacks in 10 games.
With his new club, King will join a Titans defensive end contingent that includes DaQuan Jones, Austin Johnson and Angelo Blackson, among others. At best, he’ll serve as depth behind those three.
Vikings To Acquire Tramaine Brock
The Vikings are set to acquire cornerback Tramaine Brock from the Seahawks, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com. Minnesota will send a seventh-round pick to Seattle, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, and it’ll be a conditional selection in 2018, per Shawn Zobel of Zobel Sports Consulting (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN) and Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press.
This continues an action-packed 2017 for Brock, who will join his third team of the year when the trade goes through. The 49ers released Brock in April on the heels of a domestic violence arrest, one that led to a felony charge, but the case was dismissed Aug. 9. As many as 12 teams – including the Vikings – then courted Brock, who joined the Seahawks on a $980K deal on Aug. 16. Seattle acquired fellow cornerback Justin Coleman from the Patriots on Friday, helping to make Brock expendable in the team’s eyes.
While Brock’s off-field incident damaged his stock, he has been a superb on-field performer at times during his seven-year career. As such, this looks like a worthwhile move for the Vikings, who were in need of a quality complement to No. 1 corner Xavier Rhodes. Brock will serve as one if he continues to post production along the lines of his recent output. The 29-year-old started in all 31 appearances from 2015-16, including each of the the 49ers’ 16 games last season, and has combined for nine interceptions since 2013. He picked off one pass in 2016, finished second among 49ers defenders in snaps (1,102) and graded a respectable 21st in performance among Pro Football Focus’ 110 qualified corners (Rhodes was 29th).
Panthers’ Roster Down To 77
The Panthers made a series of moves on Friday to bring their roster to 77 players, still 24 above the 53-man limit (courtesy of Bryan Strickland of the team’s website):
Waived:
- C Brian Folkerts
- CB Devonte Johnson
- DT Gabriel Mass
- DE Arthur Miley
- DE Efe Obada
- TE Bryce Williams
- DT Connor Wujciak
- CB Zack Sanchez (waived/injured)
Released outright (vested veterans who are not subject to waivers):
Placed on IR:
- OT Dan France
- WR Fred Ross
- TE Scott Simonson
- CB Teddy Williams
- G David Yankey
49ers Reduce Roster To 71
The 49ers parted with 15 players on Friday to bring their roster to 71, per a team announcement.
Waived:
- RB Kapri Bibbs (story)
- OL Andrew Lauderdale
- FB Tyler McCloskey
- WR Tim Patrick
- OL Norman Price
- K Nick Rose
- LB Shayne Skov
- S Vinnie Sunseri
Released outright (vested veterans who are not subject to waivers):
- QB Matt Barkley (story)
- C Tim Barnes (story)
- CB Will Davis
- DL Leger Douzable
- OL Andrew Gardner
- RB Tim Hightower (story)
- WR Louis Murphy