Ravens CB Marcus Peters Activated Off PUP
Baltimore finally saw one-half of their feared cornerback tandem return to practice today as Marcus Peters was activated off the physically unable to perform list. After passing his physical, Peters was back out on the practice field for the first time since September of last year. 
Peters suffered a torn ACL just four days before the Ravens’ season opener last year, filing into a line of falling dominos that took out much of the Ravens’ running back and cornerback rooms. He would miss the entire season after only sitting out five games in his previous six seasons.
The Ravens will be ecstatic at the return of their ball-hawk safety. While opposite-side starter Marlon Humphrey excels at separating ball-carriers from the football with forced fumbles, Peters is a dying breed of cornerback that excels in making sure the ball never gets to the receiver. He has seven interceptions in 24 games with the Ravens and, even though he missed all of last season, no one in the league has more interceptions since Peters entered the league than his own 31 picks.
Baltimore also announced the return of second-year safety Ar’Darius Washington from the PUP list. Washington impressed as an undrafted player out of TCU last year by making the Ravens’ final 53-man roster. He appeared in three games before a broken foot ended his season prematurely. Washington will return to an extremely deep safety room that currently houses Marcus Williams, Chuck Clark, first-round rookie Kyle Hamilton, Tony Jefferson, and Geno Stone.
Saints Sign LB Jon Bostic
New Orleans had enough faith in their linebacking corps to allow Kwon Alexander to walk in free agency this offseason. Still, the Saints have brought in veteran linebacker Jonathan Bostic to contribute alongside Demario Davis, Pete Werner, and company, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 
Bostic has spent the last three years as a starter in Washington. His stay in DC was his first extended tenure with a team since the two years he spent in Chicago as a second-round pick. He never quite found his footing in Chicago earning several starts but also a few healthy scratches. The Bears traded him to the Patriots, in exchange for a sixth-round pick, who played him so reservedly that he only accumulated two total tackles in New England. The Patriots traded him for a seventh-round pick to Detroit. Bostic sat all year on injured reserve with the Lions.
Finally in control of his own contract, Bostic signed an incredibly cheap one-year, $690,000 deal with the Colts. He finally started to live up to his draft status, starting 14 games in Indianapolis and nearly reaching 100 total tackles. He followed that season up with a two-year deal to join the Steelers. He failed to reach the same heights he had in Indiana and was released after Pittsburgh drafted Devin Bush to take over at inside linebacker.
When linebacker Reuben Foster was placed on injured reserve in Washington, Bostic took advantage, signing a one-year deal to join the team. An impressive 2019 season led to a two-year extension for the resurgent linebacker. He continued his work as a full-time starter, putting together the best two seasons of his career. Over the 2019 & 2020 seasons, Bostic started 31 games, topping 100 tackles in each season for a total of 223, collected 4.0 sacks, 9.0 tackles for loss, and 12 quarterback hits. He also showed his abilities in coverage recording two interceptions and five passes defensed.
The 31-year-old suffered a torn pectoral muscle in Week 4 of last season, likely leading to his availability this late into free agency, as he missed the remainder of the year in recovery. The Saints will hope that he can come in fully-recovered and ready to go.
For most of his career, Bostic has served as an inside/middle linebacker. With Davis securely in the starting role on the inside, Bostic will either serve in a backup, rotation capacity or shift to an strong side role to compete with Kaden Elliss for playing time. Regardless, Bostic provides excellent veteran depth for a Saints defense that needed some help at linebacker.
Seattle 7th-Round WRs Grinding For Roster Spots
The Seahawks used the final round of the 2022 NFL Draft to bring in some potential depth at wide receiver, drafting Bo Melton out of Rutgers and Dareke Young out of Lenoir-Rhyne. While Melton and Young still face a bit of an uphill battle to make the final 53-man roster, they’ll get a true look throughout the preseason, according to ESPN’s Brady Henderson.
Melton’s numbers out of Rutgers will not jump off of the page. In his best season, Melton caught 47 passes for 638 yards and six touchdowns, adding two more scores on the ground with 6 rushes for 69 yards. The lack of eye-popping statistics may be more a reflection of the players around Melton than a reflection of his own ability, as Rutgers hasn’t been known for top-tier quarterback play in recent years. Still, Melton led the Scarlet Knights in receiving yards in each of the last three years, accumulating 132 catches for 1,683 yards and 11 touchdowns over that span.
Young is a bit of a project out of Lenoir-Rhyne. Due to COVID-19 and injury, Young has only played in seven games over the last two seasons. In the five games he appeared in last year, he caught 25 balls for 303 yards and four touchdowns, including an eight-catch, 160-yard, three-touchdown performance vs Mars Hill in September. The numbers in this shortened season nearly match the numbers from the two full, fourteen-game seasons he played in 2018 and 2019, showing the tremendous potential for what a matured Young could’ve accomplished in one more full season with the Bears.
Both Melton and Young have impressed throughout the offseason in Seattle. In the team’s preseason loss to the Steelers this past Saturday, the two led the receiving group, Melton with 2 receptions for 47 yards and Young with 4 catches for 30 yards and a touchdown.
While the top-two spots atop the depth chart are set in stone with Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf, injuries to others in the receiving corps should allow Melton and Young plenty of opportunities to earn their roster spots. Freddie Swain was expected to come into the season as the No. 3 wide receiver after finishing third in the room in receiving yards last year. After struggling for much of camp, though, Swain was recently sidelined with a minor injury, leaving the door slightly ajar for someone to overtake him. Free agent addition Marquise Goodwin has stood out so far in camp, giving him a real chance to work his way into the starting group, but he, too, was sidelined recently with an injury. Meanwhile, second-year receiver D’Wayne Eskridge has struggled to stay on the field and is still recovering from injuries in an attempt to return to play.
The absences of Swain, Goodwin, and Eskridge in the preseason will provide Melton and Young ample playing time with the starting offense. This by no means guarantees that they will cement themselves on the final roster, but, similarly, if they continue to perform, Swain, Goodwin, and Eskridge may not want to get too comfortable. It can be difficult for a seventh-round pick to make the 53-man roster as a rookie, but these two pass catchers are getting a prime chance to beat the odds.
NFC East Rumors: Eagles’ QB3, Seumalo, Giants, Slayton
For much of the pre-draft process, Nevada quarterback Carson Strong‘s name was often mentioned among the top players at the position. At the end of the draft, though, Strong’s name was still on the board and he found himself fielding calls as an undrafted free agent, deciding to sign with Philadelphia for a guaranteed amount of $320,000, the highest amount to any undrafted free agent in 2022.
While many thought the impressive signing bonus essentially guaranteed that Strong would slot in on the depth chart just behind top-two quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Gardner Minshew, the competition for the No. 3 quarterback seems to gotten away from Strong. An underwhelming offseason has led Strong to fall to fourth on the depth chart behind a late-season waiver claim from last year, according to Bo Wulf of The Athletic.
Reid Sinnett was claimed off waivers in late-October by the Eagles last season. He’s spent time on the practice squads for both the Buccaneers and Dolphins and has had an impressive offseason with the Eagles. Wulf even posits that, if Sinnett can have a strong enough preseason, Philadelphia may want to reconsider hearing some trade offers for Minshew, who has struggled throughout camp in the final year of his rookie contract.
Here are a few more rumors from around the NFC West, starting with another rumor from the City of Brotherly Love:
- For much of the offseason, the back-loaded nature of Isaac Seumalo‘s contract led those in league circles to consider him a prime candidate to be cut for cap space. It was expected that Philadelphia would have Jack Driscoll and Cam Jurgens compete with Seumalo for the starting right guard job, allowing one of them to take the reins and make it easier to part ways with Seumalo. But, according to Wulf, there is no competition for the position. Despite the troubles many expected from his contract, Seumalo has the starting spot locked down while Driscoll and Jurgens haven’t taken a single rep at right guard this preseason.
- Giants No. 2 cornerback Aaron Robinson got picked on quite a bit during the team’s preseason win over the Patriots this week. The second-year cornerback opposite Adoree’ Jackson is likely to be challenged pretty consistently throughout the season, and Robinson’s struggles seemed to emphasize the glaring lack of depth at cornerback in New York. This could lead the Giants to be on the lookout for an outside cornerback to add to the room, according to Dan Duggan of The Athletic. This outside help could come in the form of a current free agent or a veteran cornerback that finds himself on the market as roster cuts continue throughout the league.
- After running with the second- and third-team for most of the offseason, wide receiver Darius Slayton ran with the Giants’ starters in the team’s preseason game this week and was featured exclusively. After leading the team in receiving in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Slayton emerged as a trade candidate at the beginning of the offseason and, more recently, found himself in danger of getting waived. Despite being feature prominently on Thursday, it still seems that Slayton is not long for New York. In fact, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post believes that playing Slayton as a starter this week was intended to display him to the trade market in an effort to pump up his value as a trade asset. Look for more Slayton targets throughout the remainder of the preseason if this proves true.
Injury Rumors: London, Stevenson
Here’s the word on some of the injuries from Week 1 of the preseason:
- The Falcons saw their top draft pick of 2022 leave their first preseason game in the first quarter on Friday. Wide receiver Drake London asked to be subbed out after reeling in a 24-yard pass from quarterback Marcus Mariota. This was the last thing Atlanta fans wanted to see considering London was drafted so highly despite an injury that ended his final season at USC prematurely. Luckily, it doesn’t appear that his college injury was the cause of his exit, according to AP News. London left the game with a knee injury, a different ailment from the broken ankle that sidelined him in college. The Falcons will play it careful with London and allow him time to get back to 100% before the regular season begins. “It’s nothing that we’re really concerned about long term,” head coach Arthur Smith told the media. “We’ll be smart…We hope to get everyone back by the time the regular season rolls around.” It looks like London will sit out this week, at least, and the team will reevaluate on the other side of their Week 2 preseason matchup with the Jets next Monday.
- The Bills were without wide receiver Marquez Stevenson this week in a preseason game that likely would’ve seen him get plenty of playing time. Head coach Sean McDermott told the media that Stevenson “had surgery to repair a foot injury last week,” likely sidelining him for the remainder of the preseason, according to a tweet from Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic. McDermott seemed to convey that the team was uncertain whether or not he would be ready to begin the regular season. It’ll be interesting to see what effect, if any, this has on the Bills’ final 53-man roster for guys like Tavon Austin, Tanner Gentry, and Jake Kumerow.
AFC South Notes: Willis, Funchess, Ngakoue
Titans rookie quarterback Malik Willis impressed in limited time during the team’s Thursday night preseason game. Willis ran the offense for the first half against the Ravens and ran one play in the second half before taking his place on the sideline.
The third-round pick completed 6 of 11 pass attempts for 107 yards. Mirroring the playing styles of the quarterbacks on the opposite sideline, Willis added 38 yards rushing with a touchdown on five carries. He was sacked twice but managed not to turn the ball over in just over two quarters of play.
Despite the playing time he’s received so far this preseason, Willis is “very clearly the developmental quarterback” in the eyes of the Titans, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. While Tennessee is happy with his progress and will continue to let him get adjusted to the speed of the game this preseason, the prevailing sense is that Willis will be stashed for a bit of a redshirt year. There doesn’t seem to be any ideas of forcing Willis onto the field in any Wildcat-type packages, as has been done with other dual-threat quarterbacks in the past.
Here are a couple other rumors from the AFC South, both hailing from the Hoosier state:
- Devin Funchess is attempting to make a strong comeback this year with a slight position shift. After spending the first five years of his career as a wide receiver, Funchess has spent the offseason working with the tight ends in Detroit. Funchess is looking to find his first regular season game action since a broken collarbone sidelined him in his first game with the Colts. Funchess joined Indianapolis on a one-year, $10MM deal in 2019, reportedly, so he could “be the top red zone target” for then-quarterback Andrew Luck. Luck shocked the world, including Funchess, when he retired a few months later. In an interview with Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Funchess remarked, “It was kind of a whirlwind having Andrew Luck retire on me. I went there basically for him. Turned down other opportunities and a lot more money to go play with him, so that was kind of a mental strain on me for that whole year.”
- After spending time with four different franchises in his first six seasons, defensive end Yannick Ngakoue believes he has found a true home in Indianapolis, according to Zak Keefer of The Athletic. Ngakoue is one of the league’s more prolific pass rushers, accumulating 55.5 sacks in his six years of play and never missing more than one game in a season. Despite his continued success rushing the passer, Ngakoue has had trouble finding a team that will make a long-term commitment to him. Well, after only a couple of months in the state, Ngakoue seems to think he’s found the place he’d most like to stay. “There’s just something about Indiana,” Ngakoue told Keefer. “This is definitely where I want to be. This is where I’d love to retire.” If he continues his dominance over this two-year deal with the Colts, they should be more than willing to fulfill that wish.
NFC West Rumors: Seahawks OL, Jackson, Greenlaw, Humphries
With Brandon Shell departing in free agency and Duane Brown and Ethan Pocic now rostered with the Jets and Browns, respectively, the Seahawks have had a bit of work this offseason piecing their offensive line back together. Seattle may even be in the extremely rare position of bookending their offensive line with two rookie tackles, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.
While Charles Cross has long been expected to start for the Seahawks on the blindside as the No. 9 overall pick in the draft, it appears that third-round pick Abraham Lucas is currently favored to man the tackle spot opposite Cross. The most recent instance of this in the NFL that I could find is back in 2012 when the Cardinals were forced to start seventh-round pick Nate Potter across from fourth-round pick Bobby Massie late in the season. That was a result of some injuries, though. The last time a team started the season with two rookie offensive tackles, I believe, was in 2009 when Jacksonville trotted out in Week 1 with first-round pick Eugene Monroe at left tackle and second-round pick Eben Britton at right tackle.
Additionally, while the Seahawks return Gabe Jackson and Damien Lewis as the starting guards from last year, backup guard Phil Haynes has reportedly been pushing both for playing time this offseason. According to a tweet from ESPN’s Brady Henderson, head coach Pete Carroll had plenty of good things to say about Haynes.
“Phil could start. He plays like a starter,” Carroll extolled. He looks like a starter out there and he’s pushing Gabe, he really is. He’s our guy that’s swinging right and left side right now. If he had to start for either guy right now, I would feel absolutely comfortable…I feel like we’ve got three starting guards right now that we could play and be fine with.”
Here are a few other rumors from around the NFC West, starting with a couple rumors from the Bay Area:
- The 49ers used a second-round pick this year to select Drake Jackson, a big-bodied defensive end out of USC. But they are determined not to limit Jackson to the outside of the line, according to Matt Barrows of The Athletic. San Francisco has been lining Jackson up all over the defensive line this offseason, placing him not only on both ends but at defensive tackle, as well.
- When the 49ers rush an extra defensive back on the field in passing situations, one of their three starting linebackers is going to have to come off the field. When asked which starting linebacker would stay on the field with Fred Warner in those situations, Barrows posited that it had to be Dre Greenlaw. Barrows went on to say that the only way Azeez Al-Shaair would take hold over the No. 2 linebacker spot in San Francisco is if Greenlaw is injured.
- Cardinals offensive tackle D.J. Humphries recently signed a three-year, $51.76MM extension. According to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network, the deal has a guaranteed amount of $32.82MM consisting of a $17MM signing bonus, the 2022 salary of $3.82MM, $4MM of the 2023 salary, and the 2023 roster bonus of $8.24MM. Additionally, the 28-year-old tackle can earn a per game active bonus of $14,117 for a potential season total of $240,000.
Bengals DE Wyatt Hubert Announces Retirement
One of the members of Cincinnati’s extremely successful 10-man 2021 rookie class has unfortunately decided to walk away from football. In a tweet this afternoon, Bengals defensive end Wyatt Hubert cited his physical health as the root cause of his retirement. 
“Unfortunately I have dealt with many injuries that have taken a permanent toll on my game, body, and performance on the field,” Hubert elaborated. “This decision has been difficult and humbling as I have been blessed to have made it to the NFL and be drafted by a great organization in the Cincinnati Bengals.”
Hubert never made it to the field at the NFL-level. In college, Hubert was a key contributor at Kansas State, starting about 2.5 of the 4 seasons he spent in Manhattan. After redshirting his first year, Hubert started seven of twelve games as a redshirt freshman ranking third in the nation among freshman in sacks per game. He started every remaining college game of his career after that, earning first team All Big 12 honors after leading the Wildcats in tackles for loss (12.5) and sacks (7.0) as a redshirt sophomore.
Despite playing in two fewer games as a redshirt junior, Hubert increased his career highs with 13.0 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks, good enough to earn him a second-consecutive year on the All Big 12 first team. As the only unanimous first team All Big 12 selection on defense, Hubert also earned votes as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year.
His two-year run of success led him to forgo his final year of college eligibility and declare for the 2021 NFL Draft. Hubert was selected by Cincinnati in the seventh-round, but suffered a torn pectoral muscle before the season began, landing him on the reserve/non-football injury list.
A year later, it seems injuries like that have taken their toll on the 24-year-old, influencing him to change his career path before it harms him beyond repair. While the Bengals never got the privilege of seeing his contributions on the field, those who watched him rock the royal purple in college, know what a loss Cincinnati’s defense has suffered.
NFC South Rumors: Darnold, Christensen, Bucs, Murphy-Bunting, Werner
As Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield starts to run away with the starting job, questions have been raised about the future of incumbent starter Sam Darnold. When a rumor surfaced that Carolina may be shopping the fifth-year passer, general manager Scott Fitterer pulled Darnold aside to set him at ease, according to Joseph Person of The Athletic.
“I talked to Scott,” Darnold explained. “He said not to worry about it. To be honest, before he talked to me, I didn’t even see it. So I’m just gonna continue to do me and do what I can to put myself in a good position and put this team in a good position.”
Aiding Fitterer in convincing Darnold that he’s not likely to be dealt is Darnold’s $18.86MM salary. There could certainly be a team willing to make a call about Darnold if an injury occurs to their starter, but if the Panthers wanted to offload him, they’d likely have to eat some of his contract, as well.
There’s a good chance, though, that Darnold stays put. As Person explained, “in a league that saw only 12 teams make it through the 17-game regular season in 2021 with one quarterback,” the backup quarterback is still a crucially important position. And, while Darnold may not rank highly among the starters in today’s game, he certainly ranks as one of the better backup quarterbacks in the league. The backup job appears to be his, too, as long as the Panthers continue to slow play the development of rookie third-round pick Matt Corral.
Here are a few other rumors from around the NFC South, starting with another note out of the Tar Heel state:
- As certain as it seems that rookie first-round pick Ikem Ekwonu will start the 2022 season as the Panthers’ starting left tackle, Carolina is still giving last year’s third-round pick, Brady Christensen, plenty of snaps at the position. According to Person, Christensen took the majority of the first-team reps this past Thursday at the position. Christensen has a highly sought after versatility that gives the Panthers the option of playing him as a guard or a tackle. With Ekwonu still expected to win the starting job, perhaps offensive line coach James Campen just wants to ensure his best backup option has enough experience at one of the offensive line’s most important positions.
- The Buccaneers‘ interior offensive line will look completely different in 2022 after the departures of Alex Cappa and Ali Marpet, as well as an injury that may cause center Ryan Jensen to miss a significant amount of time. Trade acquisition Shaq Mason will man the right guard position, while the left guard and center positions are still up in the air, according to ESPN’s Jenna Laine. The center position is currently a battle between Robert Hainsey and Nick Leverett. Leverett is also competing for the left guard starting job with Aaron Stinnie and rookie second-round pick Luke Goedeke. A tweet from Bucs staff writer Scott Smith, though, may hint at one of the positions. Smith reports that assistant head coach & run game coordinator Harold Goodwin “hopes a decision (at left guard) will be made prior to the third preseason game” so that the new left guard can “build chemistry with Donovan Smith and (Hainsey).” Smith is projected to be the starting left tackle, so this comment from Goodwin may point to the fact that Hainsey has won the position battle at center.
- We recently did a rundown of the Buccaneers’ cornerbacks room, but an update, provided by Matt Matera of the Pewter Report, may give us some new information. We claimed that Sean Murphy-Bunting was in a competition with Jamel Dean for the No. 2 cornerback spot opposite Carlton Davis, but that the loser of that battle would still likely get plenty of time as the top option at nickel. According to Matera, though, Murphy-Bunting is no longer working in the slot and is solely competing with Dean for the outside job. Matera adds that Dean seems to have the inside-track which will leave Murphy-Bunting coming off the bench.
- It appears that Saints second-year linebacker Pete Werner has taken hold of the starting weak-side linebacker position next to Demario Davis, according to Jeff Duncan of nola.com. Duncan comments that the staff’s confidence in Werner is high enough that it assisted in their decision to allow former starter Kwon Alexander to walk in free agency.
NFC West Rumors: Hopkins, Brunskill, Seahawks, Rams
While there was some contention in regards to the six-game suspension handed down to Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, the NFLPA considers his case a closed issue, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. There was a sliver of hope that the ban may be reduced from six to four games, and Hopkins still believes there may be, but it seems all but certain that he will be out for all six.
With Hopkins out, Arizona’s receiving room will be led by trade acquisition Marquise Brown, veteran A.J. Green, and second-year player Rondale Moore. The depth gets pretty thin behind those three with Andy Isabella, Antoine Wesley, and Greg Dortch on the roster, among a few others. The Cardinals also shopped Isabella earlier this year.
Here are a few other rumors from around the NFC West, starting with a note out of the Bay Area:
- Many have thought that former Dolphins center Jake Brendel will take over for the retired Alex Mack as the 49ers‘ starting center. But, according to Matt Barrows of The Athletic, Daniel Brunskill has been taking all of his snaps at center this summer. This is significant as Brunskill has started the last two seasons for San Francisco at right guard. If Brunskill can fill the hole at center, the real battle on the 49ers offensive line may be for the right guard spot.
- While there’s been some discussion on the intrigue of the cornerback position group in Seattle, there’s even a bit of intrigue among the Seahawks‘ rookies. Despite being drafted in the round after his teammate, rookie cornerback Tariq Woolen out of Texas-San Antonio could likely find himself earning playing time over fellow rookie cornerback Coby Bryant out of Cincinnati, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. In a mock game that took place the week before the preseason started, Woolen stood out alongside starter Artie Burns as Sidney Jones sat out with a concussion.
- With the departure of Austin Corbett over the offseason, the Rams have been looking for a replacement at right guard. Currently, Coleman Shelton has secured a lead on the position after three years as the team’s backup center, according to Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic. Rookie third-round pick Logan Bruss will get an opportunity to play some snaps in the preseason, but the job is likely Shelton’s to lose.
- Similarly, after releasing longtime punter Johnny Hekker following the team’s Super Bowl LVI victory, Los Angeles has held a punting competition between former Broncos and Giants punter Riley Dixon and undrafted Texas rookie Cameron Dicker. According to Rodrigue, Dixon is far and away expected to win that position battle.