Rams Make Several Roster Moves, Down To 75
The Rams are down to the 75-man roster limit. Here’s the full slate of transactions made by Los Angeles, per a club announcement.
Waived:
- K Taylor Bertolet
- TE Benson Browne
- DB Michael Caputo
- LB Zach Colvin
- C/G Brian Folkerts
- LB Darreon Herring
- S Jordan Lomax
- LS Jeff Overbaugh
- WR David Richards
- TE Jake Stoneburner
- OT Jordan Swindle
- QB Dylan Thompson
Waived/Injured:
- FB Zach Laskey
- WR Marquez North
If Laskey and North clear waivers, they’ll revert to the Rams’ IR list.
Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter links) first reported most of these moves.
Panthers Audition Major Wright
The Panthers worked out safety Major Wright, according to Bill Voth of the Black and Blue Review. Wright was released by the division rival Buccaneers earlier this week.
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Carolina has been looking for veteran defensive back help recently, as they’ve met with both Stevie Brown and Donte Whitner. They’ll now also look at Wright, who started 21 games over the past two seasons with Tampa. He posted 76 tackles from 2014-15, but was scheduled to make $1.75MM this year, necessitating his release.
The Panthers are now back up to 75 players following the signing of Wright — they had been at 74 following a recent round of cuts.
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Chargers Get Roster Exemption For Joey Bosa
The Chargers announced that they’ve received a roster exemption for the recently-signed Joey Bosa, so while they technically have 76 players under contract, they are in compliance with the league’s roster requirements.
Waived
- QB Zach Mettenberger (story)
Waived/Injured:
- WR Javontee Herndon (story)
- DT Zamir Carlis
- T Tyler Johnstone
- RB Dreamius Smith
Placed on injured reserve:
- G Donavon Clark
- RB Branden Oliver (story)
Ravens Trim Roster To 75
The Ravens have announced four roster moves, and have trimmed their roster to the 75-player maximum. As such, Baltimore is done with transactions until this weekend, when all clubs must move to 53 men.
Placed on PUP:
Placed on IR:
Waived:
- K Wil Lutz
Taliaferro will miss the first six weeks of the season, but can then be activated to the Ravens’ active roster. Kaufusi was Baltimore’s third-round pick this year.
Chargers WR Javontee Herndon Likely Done For Year
Chargers wide receiver Javontee Herndon recently suffered a non-contact knee injury and was forced to undergo surgery last week, reports Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune. As such, Herndon is likely to miss the entire season.
[RELATED: Chargers Waive Zach Mettenberger]
Herndon, 23, had spent most of the past two seasons on San Diego’s practice squad, but saw action in eight games on the active roster last season, and posted 195 yards on 24 receptions. Additionally, Herndon was a factor on special teams, averaging 7.4 yards per punt return and 22.4 yards per kick return.
Herndon had been battling for a roster spot amid a WR depth chart that has already lost Stevie Johnson for the season, and saw the release of veteran James Jones yesterday. Herndon’s injury should be a boon to the chances of recent waiver claim Rasheed Bailey making the Bolts’ roster.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Saints Cut Matt Shaughnessy
The Saints have parted ways with veteran defender Matt Shaughnessy after a short stay on the roster, as the club has released the DE/LB, tweets Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com. Shaughnessy had just signed with New Orleans earlier this month.
Shaughnessy, 29, didn’t appear in the NFL last season after spending the first six years of his career with the Raiders and Cardinals. In 75 career games (48 starts), Shaughnessy has picked up 144 tackles, 18.5 sacks, four fumble recoveries, and three forced fumbles. The Saints got an up-close look at the veteran edge defender, having auditioned him in both May and June.
The Saints are slated to meet with another versatile front seven defender — former Brown Paul Kruger — later today.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Lane Johnson
Eagles tackle Lane Johnson will start Week 1 if his suspension has not started yet, head coach Doug Pederson told reporters today, including Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com (Twitter link). There had been some thought that Philadelphia would hold Johnson out even if his ban hadn’t been announced, but that apparently will not happen.
Johnson is facing a 10-game suspension for violating the league’s PED policy, but even though the ban was reported weeks ago, the NFL still hasn’t made the suspension official. Meanwhile, Johnson has said that he’ll appeal any suspension that is announced, so it’s possible that he’d be able to play Week 1 while the appeal process was underway.
If the Eagles are without Johnson for more than half the season, it would be a crushing blow to their O-Line and offense as a whole. Johnson, the fourth overall pick in 2013, has been a starter for the Eagles since the team drafted him out of Oklahoma, playing primarily at right tackle before spending some time at left tackle in 2015. In his three years with the Eagles, he has only missed four games due to his aforementioned PED suspension. This past season, Pro Football Focus ranked Johnson 24th among offensive tackles, out of 81 qualified players at the position.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Vikings Announce Roster Cuts
The Vikings have announced several roster cuts — several of which were already reported yesterday — that bring their roster to 80 players. As such, they’ll need to cut five more players before 3pm CT today.
- DE Theiren Cockran
- G Sean Hickey
- TE Brian Leonhardt
- DE Claudell Louis
- WR Marken Michel
- LB Terrance Plummer
- G Austin Shepherd
- WR Terrell Sinkfield
- QB Brad Sorensen
Cardinals Cut Alan Ball, Roster At 75
The Cardinals have reached an injury settlement with cornerback Alan Ball and released him from their roster, according to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com. Arizona has also placed fellow corner Elie Bouka on injured reserve, so the Cards’ roster now sits at 75.
The 31-year-old Ball just signed with Arizona earlier this month. Ball, who was teammates with Jenkins in Dallas from 2008-11, entered the league as a seventh-round pick in 2007. In addition to the Cowboys and Bears, he has seen action with the Texans and Jaguars. All told, Ball has accrued 108 appearances (47 starts) and six interceptions. He appeared in 15 games, made three starts and totaled 18 tackles last season.
The Cardinals had already lost another defensive back — veteran Mike Jenkins — for the season, as he tore his ACL over the weekend.
Bengals Cut Brandon Tate, Roster At 75
The Bengals have released wide receiver Brandon Tate, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), and they’ve also waived fellow WR Mario Alford with an injury designation, per Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). Additionally, Cincinnati has placed rookie defensive tackle Andrew Billings on injured reserve and fellow DT Brandon Thompson on PUP. The club’s roster is now at 75.
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Tate, 28, has been on Cincinnati’s roster since the 2011 season, but most of his contributions have come on special teams rather than on offense. He’s returned more than 350 kicks and punts during his time with the Bengals, averaging 9.6 yards per return on kickoffs and 24.6 yards on punts. Tate is highly-respected by the Cincinnati coaching staff and front office, and Rapoport notes that the club released him now so that he might be able to latch on with another club.
Alford, meanwhile, was thought to be contending for both returner jobs, but injuries have kept him off the field. The former sixth-round pick will revert to the Bengals’ injured reserve list if he clears waivers.
The Bengals also released kicker Jon Brown from the injured reserve list, presumably with an injury settlement.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.