Extra Points: Bucs, F. Jackson, Brady, Ridley
The Buccaneers had a slew of problems on their offensive line last year, and even after addressing the position multiple times in the draft, the club isn’t totally satisfied with its line play. According to Jenna Laine of SportsTalkFlorida.com (via Twitter), the Bucs are looking for interior offensive line help, and are shopping for possible trades. The club could also look to claim a player off waivers or sign a free agent, as more cuts are made this week.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NFL, as teams reduce their rosters to 75 players:
- Fred Jackson appears likely to land with the Seahawks, but the Ravens have also expressed interest in the veteran running back, says Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News (via Twitter). According to Carucci, there’s been no indication that the Patriots, Cowboys, or Browns have shown interest in Jackson.
- When Judge Richard Berman announces his decision on Tom Brady‘s case this week, he’ll either uphold or vacate the four-game suspension for the Patriots quarterback. However, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explains, Berman has a handful of different options available to him when he makes that ruling.
- All signs are pointing to Jets running back Stevan Ridley, who is returning from an ACL injury, starting the regular season on the club’s reserve/PUP list, tweets Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
- David Newton of ESPN.com conducted a Q&A with Panthers GM Dave Gettleman, who addressed the play of new left tackle Michael Oher, the team’s acquisition of wideout Kevin Norwood, and the areas of the roster that may still need an upgrade.
- Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell also discussed a Monday trade, indicating that the decision to move kicker Josh Scobee was the “toughest decision we’ve had to make.” John Oehser of Jaguars.com has the details.
- Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap examines the cap ramifications of some of the more notable veteran cuts made over thee weekend and on Monday.
Ravens, Bengals Cut Down To 75 Players
Two AFC North rivals, the Ravens and the Bengals, have reduced their rosters to 75 players in advance of this afternoon’s deadline, the teams announced today.
The Ravens confirmed in a press release that they’ve officially placed Dennis Pitta on the reserve/PUP list, a move we heard weeks ago was coming. The club waived offensive lineman De’Ondre Wesley to get down to 75 players on the active roster, and also cut tackle Darryl Baldwin, who had been on the reserve/NFI list.
As for the Bengals, their roster had been at 78 players after they cut Denarius Moore and eight other players on Monday. Cincinnati’s final three roster moves, according to the team (via Twitter), were placing offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi on the reserve/NFI list, placing linebacker Sean Porter on the reserve/PUP list, and waiving wide receiver Onterio McCalebb with an injury designation.
Ogbuehi and Porter will now have to sit out at least the first six weeks of the regular season, while McCalebb will land on the Bengals’ IR list if and when he clears waivers.
Bucs Cut Michael Koenen, Get Down To 75
10:22am: The Bucs have confirmed Koenen’s release and announced four more roster moves, to get down to the required 75 players. Here are Tampa Bay’s other Tuesday transactions, per a team release:
Waived/injured:
- G Josh Allen
- WR Robert Herron
- CB Leonard Johnson
Placed on reserve/PUP list:
- DT Akeem Spence
8:09am: The Buccaneers have made a change on their special teams unit, according to Rick Stroud and Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times, who report (via Twitter) that the club has released veteran punter Michael Koenen. As a vested veteran, Koenen will avoid waivers and will become a free agent immediately.
The Bucs brought in multiple punters this offseason to challenge Koenen, and while Spencer Lanning didn’t make the cut, it appears the team likes what it has seen from newcomer Jacob Schum. Unless another move is forthcoming, Schum looks likely to open to the regular season as Tampa Bay’s punter.
Koenen, 33, had been set to earn a $3.25MM base salary in 2014 after ranking as just the 23rd-best and 24th-best punter in the NFL over the last two seasons, according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required). Because he had no prorated signing bonus money left on his deal, Koenen won’t leave any dead money on the Bucs’ books, so the team clears his entire $3.25MM cap charge for this year and for 2016.
Titans Trim Roster To 75 Players
The Titans have made their final four transactions to get down to 75 players on their roster before this afternoon’s deadline, according to Jim Wyatt of Titans Online (via Twitter). In addition to confirming the previously-reported release of defensive tackle Toby Johnson, Wyatt says the club has waived safety Josh Aubrey and tight end Tevin Westbrook, and has placed wide receiver Andrew Turzilli and linebacker Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil on injured reserve.
It’s the second wave of cuts for Tennessee, after the team announced 10 roster moves on Sunday. The most notable transaction in that bunch was the release of veteran offensive lineman Fernando Velasco, who has started 37 games over the course of his NFL career, including 19 with the Titans.
The team will have to make 22 more cuts before Saturday, when 53-man rosters are due.
Tim Jennings Meeting With Buccaneers
Veteran cornerback Tim Jennings didn’t waste any time setting up his first free agent visit. According to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (via Twitter), Jennings is in Tampa today to meet with the Buccaneers, just two days after being released by the Bears.
The fact that Jennings is receiving some interest from the Bucs isn’t a real surprise, considering his connection to Lovie Smith. Smith, the current head coach in Tampa Bay, was coaching in Chicago when the team brought Jennings aboard in 2010, and oversaw the cornerback’s first Pro Bowl season in 2012.
A nine-year vet, Jennings signed with the Bears back in ’10 after spending the first four years of his career with the Colts. According to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required), Jennings posted a successful 2014 season, grading as the league’s No. 28 corner while playing more than 1,000 snaps. During his time in Chicago, Jennings, a Georgia alum, started all but six games, posting 16 interceptions during that span.
If Jennings were to sign with the Buccaneers, he’d be joining a group of cornerbacks that includes Alterraun Verner, Johnthan Banks, Mike Jenkins, and Sterling Moore.
Dolphins Release Brandon Fields
After spending the last eight seasons acting as the Dolphins’ punter, Brandon Fields will be looking for a new NFL home this week. According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (via Twitter), Fields has been released by the team, having lost the job to rookie Matt Darr.
Fields, the Dolphins’ second-longest-tenured player, earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2013, but wasn’t as effective for the Dolphins last season. Appearing in all 16 games for the team, the 31-year-old ranked 23rd out of 32 qualified NFL punters, according to the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Back in March, Fields agreed to restructure his contract, reducing his 2015 base salary to $1.65MM. At the time, reports indicated that the veteran punter’s only hope of remaining with the team was to rework his deal, but it turns out that even that didn’t save his roster spot. By releasing Fields, the Dolphins will create some cap savings, but will still carry dead-money hits of $870K in 2015 and $770K in 2016.
According to Salguero (via Twitter), the Dolphins made the decision on their starting punter based on performance, not based on Fields’ higher cap figure.
Browns Cut Ishmaa’ily Kitchen, Put Shaw On IR
The Browns have announced several more roster moves today, but perhaps the most notable transaction of the bunch has yet to be confirmed by the team. According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (via Twitter), the club has waived defensive lineman Ishmaa’ily Kitchen.
Kitchen, who turns 27 next month, earned 279 defensive snaps for the Browns in 2014, making 27 tackles. While his play in the middle was unspectacular, the Kent State product was solid enough in his three years in Cleveland that the team felt comfortable tendering him a one-year contract offer worth $1.542MM when he hit restricted free agency. However, that contract was non-guaranteed.
Here are the rest of the Browns roster moves, which the team officially announced in a press release:
Placed on injured reserve:
- OL Michael Bowie
- QB Connor Shaw
Placed on reserve/non-football injury list:
- DB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu
- TE Randall Telfer
- RB Glenn Winston
The players who landed on IR won’t return for the Browns this year, while the NFI players will be eligible to practice and play starting after Week 6. The club’s announcement indicates that the roster is now down to 79 players, though that number will dip to 78 when Kitchen’s release becomes official. After that, Cleveland will have to make three more moves to get down to the 75-man roster limit.
Steelers Reduce Roster To 75 Players
The Steelers added one player to their roster today, acquiring Josh Scobee in a trade with the Jaguars, but most of the day’s transactions for the team involve removing players onto reserve lists, or cutting them from the team entirely.
Here are the rest of the moves completed today by Pittsburgh in order to get the roster down to 75 players, according to the club’s transactions log:
Placed on reserve/PUP list:
- T Mike Adams
Placed on injured reserve:
- CB Senquez Golson
- K Garrett Hartley
Waived/injured:
- TE Cameron Clear
- DE Niko Davis
- TE Ray Hamilton
Cut:
- G Miles Dieffenbach
- WR Kenzel Doe
- WR C.J. Goodwin
- RB Braylon Heard
- DE Joe Kruger
- DT Joe Okafor
- OL Collin Rahrig
- CB Jordan Sullen
- T Kevin Whimpey
- S Ian Wild
Texans Cut 10 Players, Move Cliett To IR
3:50pm: The Texans have made another cut, waiving punter Will Johnson, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
1:34pm: The Texans’ cutdown to 75 players is underway, with Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston reporting, in a series of Twitter links, that the team has removed 10 players from its roster, cutting nine and moving linebacker Reshard Cliett to the injured reserve list. Cliett, a sixth-round pick, went down several weeks ago with a knee injury, and will be sidelined for his rookie season.
Per Berman, here are the nine players cut by the Texans today:
- Aaron Adams, T
- Jason Ankrah, OLB
- Alan Bonner, WR
- Jace Davis, WR
- Chris Neild, NT
- Cam McLeod, DE
- Travis Labhart, WR
- Bryan Witzmann, T
- Cody White, NT
By my count, the Texans are now carrying 80 active players, following their acquisition of tackle Chris Clark, so they’ll have to make a few more moves by Tuesday afternoon’s 75-man deadline.
49ers Trim Roster To 75 Players
The 49ers have reduced their roster count to 75 players in advance of tomorrow’s deadline, announcing a series of transactions today in a press release.
The club placed offensive lineman Daniel Kilgore on the reserve/PUP list and receiver DeAndre Smelter on the reserve/NFI list, meaning both players will be sidelined for at least six weeks. Additionally, wideout Dres Anderson and linebacker Desmond Bishop were placed on injured reserve, which will end their respective seasons, barring an eventual injury settlement.
The 49ers also waived the following players:
- K Corey Acosta
- LB Steve Beauharnais
- CB Mylan Hicks
- T Sean Hooey
- WR Mario Hull
- WR Chuck Jacobs
- WR Nigel King
- LB Shawn Lemon
- FB Trey Millard
- DL Lawrence Okoye