Saints To Waive Chris McCain
The Saints will cut defensive end Chris McCain, a source tells Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com (Twitter link). New Orleans had just acquired McCain from the Dolphins days ago.
McCain, 24, is entering his third season in the NFL, but hasn’t contributed much during his first two years in the league. He’s appeared in 19 games, but he’s been more of a special teams player than a defensive stalwart. McCain picked up a sack and a forced fumble in 2015, but only played on 113 total snaps (43 on defense), and wasn’t ticketed for a larger role this year.
The Dolphins will not acquire a conditional draft pick from Miami given that McCain did not make the roster.
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Cowboys Will Keep Darren McFadden
Although trade rumors had swirled around running back Darren McFadden, the Cowboys plan to keep the veteran running back, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. McFadden will go on the NFI list, meaning he will miss the first six weeks of action.
Fourth overall pick Ezekiel Elliott is poised to take over the Cowboys’ starting running back job, and free agent signee Alfred Morris has performed well in camp. Pass-catching back Lance Dunbar, meanwhile, has come off the PUP list and will be ready for the start of the season, so Dallas could have trouble finding carries for McFadden.
Still, McFadden is a pretty valuable asset given that he rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season and will cost only $1.25MM in base salary. However, his health has always been a question mark, and he’s injured at the moment. McFadden is dealing with an elbow ailment and still hasn’t practiced this offseason.
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Ravens Work Out Devin Hester
The Ravens worked out veteran wide receiver/return man Devin Hester today, reports Jeff Zriebec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). Hester has been on the open market since July when he was released by the Falcons, but is now almost back to full health.
Baltimore has decent depth at wide receiver, with Steve Smith, Kamar Aiken, Mike Wallace, Chris Moore, and Jeremy Butler representing the club’s top options, so Hester would likely act strictly as a returner if signed. With Kaelin Clay — the Ravens’ primary return man in 2015 — on injured reserve, Hester would compete with Butler and Michael Campanaro for duty on special teams.
Hester joined the Falcons prior to the 2014 season and enjoyed his fourth Pro Bowl berth – his first since 2010. Hester returned 45 kicks for 1,128 yards and 18 punts for 240 yards, showing that he was still dangerous in the return game. It remains to be seen whether Hester will continue his NFL journey and build on his NFL record in return touchdowns (20) and punt return touchdowns (14).
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Bears Shopping Three Defenders
The Bears have told other clubs that defensive lineman Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton, as well as linebacker Christian Jones, can be had via trade, sources tell Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. As Biggs notes, Chicago is unlikely to acquire anything meaningful for any of that trifecta, and all three are in danger of being cut.
The Bears are in the process of overhauling their defense, and GM Ryan Pace clearly isn’t interested in keeping players who were brought in by the team’s previous administration (all three of Ferguson, Sutton, and Jones were acquired in 2014). Of the three, Jones is the most experienced, as he played over 70% of Chicago’s defensive plays a year ago, starting 13 games and picking up 59 tackles. But given that the Bears have signed both Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman, there doesn’t seem to be a role for the 25-year-old Jones.
Sutton and Ferguson, meanwhile, played roughly 40% and 10%, respectively, of the Bears’ defensive plays during their sophomore campaigns.
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Eagles Shopping CB Eric Rowe
The Eagles are attempting to trade cornerback Eric Rowe, according to Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com, who adds that Philadelphia has been trying to deal Rowe since training camp began. Rowe, 24 next month, was drafted in the second round of the 2015 draft.
During his rookie campaign, Rowe appeared in all 16 games (starting five), and played on about 40% of the Philadelphia’s defense snaps. In that time, Rowe posted one interception, five passes defensed, and 24 tackles. He doesn’t appear ticketed for a starting job under new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, however, as Nolan Carroll, Leodis McKelvin, and Ron Brooks look to be the Eagles’ top three defensive backs.
De facto GM Howie Roseman hasn’t been afraid to deal away players acquired by former head coach Chip Kelly, as he’s already shipped out Byron Maxwell, Kiko Alonso, and DeMarco Murray.
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Teddy Bridgewater Suffers Torn ACL
WEDNESDAY, 4:21pm: Minnesota placed Bridgewater on season-ending IR.
TUESDAY, 7:20pm: Vikings head trainer Eric Sugarman has released a statement indicating that quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has suffered a torn ACL. Although the statement did not confirm a timetable, Bridgewater is still expected to miss the 2016 season.
“Teddy Bridgewater suffered a non-contact injury today at practice,” said Sugarman. “The injury was quickly identified as a dislocated knee. The injury was stabilized, and he was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment and evaluation. After undergoing an MRI, it was determined that Teddy suffered a complete tear to his ACL and other structural damage.
Fortunately, there appears to be no nerve or arterial damage. Surgical repair will be scheduled within the next few days. Although the recovery time will be significant, we expect Teddy to make a full recovery. I would like to thank all of the medical professionals and our athletic training staff for all of their help today. Teddy has already displayed the attitude needed to overcome this injury and attack his rehab.”
As it currently stands, the Vikings have veteran Shaun Hill on the depth chart. Hill offers experience, but he is an uninspiring starting option for a team with playoff aspirations. He also has never started more than 10 games in any given season. Other than Hill, the Vikings have Wisconsin product Joel Stave on the depth chart. Fellow signal-callerTaylor Heinicke has been placed on the NFI list with an injury.
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Vikings Re-Sign Brad Sorensen
The Vikings will re-sign quarterback Brad Sorensen — who was just waived earlier this week — in the wake of Teddy Bridgewater‘s ACL injury, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
[RELATED: Peyton Manning Not An Option For Vikings]
Sorensen, 28, was a seventh-round draft choice of the Chargers back in 2013. Although he’s bounced around the league quite a bit during his four-year NFL career, Sorensen has never thrown an NFL pass or even appeared in a game. So while he has experience on the roster of the Chargers, Titans, and — most recently — Vikings, Sorensen isn’t the answer to Minnesota’s quarterback crisis. Instead, he’ll likely serve as depth to help the Vikings get through their final preseason game, and perhaps have a chance to stick as a second or third QB.
As it currently stands, the Vikings have veteran Shaun Hill on the depth chart. Hill offers experience, but he is an uninspiring starting option for a team with playoff aspirations. He also has never started more than 10 games in any given season. Other than Hill, the Vikings have Wisconsin product Joel Stave on the depth chart. Fellow signal-callerTaylor Heinicke has been placed on the NFI list with an injury.
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Peyton Manning Not An Option For Vikings
Peyton Manning has no interest in coming out of retirement to play for the Vikings, a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Presumably, Manning wouldn’t re-enter the league to quarterback any club given that he left the NFL on top, but Minnesota is in especially dire straits after Teddy Bridgewater tore his ACL and suffered knee damage earlier today.
While Manning isn’t an option for the Vikings, Alex Marvez of FOX Sports (Twitter link) throws out Colts backup quarterback Scott Tolzien as a potential trade target for Minnesota given that offensive coordinator Norv Turner was (at one point) a fan of Tolzien. Turner has never coached Tolzien, so it’s possible that the veteran play-caller liked Tolzien’s college tape. However, a trade is unlikely at this point, per Marvez.
As it currently stands, the Vikings have veteran Shaun Hill on the depth chart. Hill offers experience, but he is an uninspiring starting option for a team with playoff aspirations. He also has never started more than 10 games in any given season. Other than Hill, the Vikings have Wisconsin product Joel Stave on the depth chart. Fellow signal-caller Taylor Heinicke has been placed on the NFI list with an injury.
A cursory glance at our list of NFL free agents shows that veteran options such as Matt Flynn, Michael Vick, and Charlie Whitehurst are available, as is former Viking Tarvaris Jackson. T.J. Yates, meanwhile, was recently cleared to return to action after recovering from a torn ACL.
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Falcons Likely To Sign Running Back
The Falcons’ running back corps is hurting, and given that the club isn’t going to play either Devonta Freeman or Tevin Coleman in its final preseason contest, Atlanta is aiming to sign a back before Thursday’s tuneup against the Jaguars, head coach Dan Quinn told reporters, including Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Updated Atlanta Falcons Depth Chart]
While Terron Ward is set to see most of the Atlanta backfield snaps, Brandon Wilds was also scheduled to play a role. But now that Wilds is injured, Gus Johnson was waived, and Cyrus Gray was released with an injury settlement, the Falcons simply don’t have the bodies to get through Thursday’s game. Freeman and Coleman certainly aren’t going to be risked, and fullback Patrick DiMarco probably won’t play either, given that he’s a pretty important piece of the Atlanta offense.
Veteran free agents such as Joique Bell, Donald Brown, and Ahmad Bradshaw remain on the open market, but experienced players are probably unwilling to suit up for one game with the knowledge that they have no chance to make the roster. As such, the Falcons will likely end up signing a low-profile back, or perhaps even a college free agent who simply wants to get some snaps.
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Cowboys To Meet With QB Austin Davis
The Cowboys are known to be in the market for a veteran backup quarterback after losing Tony Romo to start the season, and they’ll meet with with a signal-caller who just earned his walking papers yesterday. Dallas is set to host quarterback Austin Davis, who was waived by the Browns on Monday, according to Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Cowboys Place Kellen Moore On IR]
Aside from Romo, the Cowboys’ only other quarterbacks are Dak Prescott — who presumably won’t play much, if at all, during the club’s final preseason game — and 2015 UDFA Jameill Showers. As such, Dallas needs options to simply get through it’s fourth exhibition contest, and George cautions that Davis might only be an arm for that final tuneup.
But Davis, 27, is also a viable No. 2 quarterback, as he has 13 games (10 starts) under his belt. Most of that action came in 2014, when he started right contests for the Rams, completing 61% of his passes for 2,001 yards, 12 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. In Cleveland last year, Davis started two games, tossing one touchdown and two picks.
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