Rams Rework Contracts For Pettis, Long
The Rams have reworked the contracts for a pair of their players, creating a little more cap flexibility as the 2014 season gets underway. Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap has the details on the team’s new agreement with wide receiver Austin Pettis, while Brian McIntyre tweets the information defensive end Chris Long‘s restructure.
Pettis, 26, has agreed to slice his base salary for 2014 by more than half, from $1.431MM to just $700K. In exchange for taking a pay cut, the former third-round pick received a $250K signing bonus. Because he’s in the final year of his contract, the bonus won’t be prorated at all, but it still results in nearly $500K worth of cap savings for the Rams. And for Pettis, is likely means his roster spot is safe.
Long’s restructure was a simpler move, with the team converting $3MM of his 2014 base salary into a signing bonus. That bonus will be prorated across the final three years of his deal at a rate of $1MM per season, meaning his ’14 cap number has been reduced by $2MM.
Overall, the Rams created about $2.48MM in cap room.
Patriots Re-Sign Danny Aiken, Chris White
The Patriots have officially re-signed long snapper Danny Aiken and linebacker Chris White to their 53-man roster, the team announced today in a press release. The team had initially parted ways with Aiken on Saturday while trimming their roster from 75 to 53, and then cut White on Sunday to make room on the active roster for waiver claims.
Aiken, 26, has been the Patriots’ long snapper for the last three seasons, and figures to continue on in that role in 2014, despite having been shuffled on and off the roster in the last week. As for White, he didn’t have a role on New England’s defense a year ago, but contributed on special teams, logging five tackles in kick and punt coverage.
No corresponding moves will be necessary for the Pats, since the team cut defensive tackles Bruce Gaston and Kelcy Quarles from its roster yesterday. After removing long snapper Charley Hughlett from their practice squad yesterday, the Pats have also filled that 10th and final spot today, re-signing quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson.
Poll: Which Team Will Win The Super Bowl?
It’s been over seven months since the Seahawks dismantled the Broncos to win Super Bowl 48, and we’re finally here: The NFL’s 2014 season gets underway tonight, with those same Seahawks back in action, hosting Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. So, appropriately, with the season’s first week about to begin, we’ll turn attention to the last week of the coming season, in an attempt to predict which team will still be standing in February.
While we haven’t seen a back-to-back Super Bowl champion since New England defeated the Panthers and Eagles in 2004 and 2005, the Seahawks retained many of the crucial players that allowed them to make that run last winter, and head into the season as the favorite to come out of the NFC. In fact, Vegas pegs a rematch of this year’s game as the most likely matchup for Super Bowl 49, with the Broncos heading into the season as the team with the best odds to win it all (5.5-to-1), per betting site Bovada.lv.
Besides the Broncos and Seahawks, Bovada has listed four other teams whose odds of winning this year’s championship at 9-to-1 or better. Those four clubs are the Patriots, 49ers, Packers, and Saints. While it’s certainly possible that another team walks away with the crown at season’s end, those six clubs head appear to be heading into Week 1 representing the NFL’s top tier. The team with the seventh-best odds, per Bovada, is the Eagles, down at 20-to-1.
What do you think? Will one of those preseason favorites be celebrating in Phoenix on February 1, or will an upstart team win this year’s Super Bowl? After placing your vote, feel free to weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below.
Practice Squad Updates: Wednesday
It’s hard to imagine any practice squad updates today will be more notable than the news that Michael Sam has joined the Cowboys’ unit, but there figure to be plenty other teams tweaking their squads. We’ll round up all those items right here:
- Undrafted rookie center Josh Allen, who was cut by the Bucs, has signed to the Packers‘ practice squad, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (on Twitter).
- The Saints re-signed quarterback Ryan Griffin to their practice squad, a source tells Mike Triplett of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
- The Bengals have filled out their practice squad by adding ex-Chargers wideout Tevin Reese, the team announced today (via Twitter).
- Safety Matt Daniels has been replaced on the Rams’ practice squad by tight end Brad Smelley, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter).
Earlier updates:
- The Vikings have confirmed the previously-reported signing of Ahmad Dixon to their practice squad, announcing that tackle Mike Remmers has been cut to make room (Twitter link).
- When they added Sam to their practice squad, the Cowboys dropped seventh-round linebacker Will Smith, according to a team release.
- As first reported by Doug Kyed of NESN (via Twitter), linebacker Colton Underwood has signed with the Eagles‘ practice squad, filling the 10th and final opening.
- The Patriots made a few changes to their practice squad, bringing in guard Chris Barker, running back Marcus Thigpen, and tight end Allen Reisner, according to Kyed (via Twitter). Quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, safety Kanorris Davis and defensive back Daxton Swanson appear to no longer be on the squad, writes Lee Schechter of ESPNBoston.com.
- After working out several players yesterday, the Giants signed one of those players – defensive tackle Dominique Hamilton – to their practice squad today, tweets Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News.
- The Ravens brought in former third-round cornerback Jamell Fleming for a visit and added him to their practice squad, per Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Wilson’s Sun colleague Jeff Zrebiec adds (via Twitter) that cornerback Deji Olatoye has been cut to make room.
- Safety Ahmad Dixon, who was drafted by the Cowboys in the seventh round this year, is expected to sign with the Vikings‘ practice squad, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. Minnesota currently has 10 players on board, so a corresponding move will be required.
Patriots Cut Bruce Gaston, Kelcy Quarles
The Patriots have parted ways with two players they claimed off waivers over the weekend, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com, who tweets that defensive tackles Bruce Gaston and Kelcy Quarles have been cut by the team. The moves should leave New England with a pair of open roster spots, so I’d expect corresponding signings to be announced soon.
Gaston was dropped by the Cardinals as part of final roster cutdowns on Saturday, while Quarles was let go by the Giants. Both players will return to waivers today, and if they go unclaimed this time around, they’ll be free to sign with any club or practice squad. It wouldn’t be a surprise if one or both players ended up returning to the teams with whom they spent training camp, though both Arizona and New York have full practice squads at the moment.
As for the Patriots’ own practice squad, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets that the team has removed long snapper Charley Hughlett. According to Reiss (via Twitter), former Pats long snapper Danny Aiken is back in Massachusetts after visiting the Broncos, and there’s a strong possibility he rejoins New England.
South Notes: Titans, Watt, Jags, Bucs
Let’s round up a few Wednesday items from out of the NFL’s two South divisions….
- The Titans appear to be eyeing secondary help. In addition to hosting Crezdon Butler for a tryout, as we heard yesterday, the team also auditioned veteran defensive backs Dominique Franks, Julian Posey, R.J. Stanford, and Terrell Thomas, per Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). In a separate tweet, Wilson adds that Tennessee had interest in signing cornerback Derek Cox before he returned to the Ravens.
- Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com (Twitter link) provides the details on the contract that kicker Ryan Succop signed with the Titans. According to Kuharsky, it’s a minimum-salary pact with a $15K roster bonus.
- Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap provides a full year-by-year breakdown of what J.J. Watt‘s new contract extension with the Texans should look like, based on a report from John McClain of the Houston Chronicle.
- After auditioning for the Dolphins yesterday, tight end David Paulson has a tryout scheduled with the Jaguars for next Tuesday, tweets Wilson.
- Wide receivers Joe Anderson and Chris Williams, along with defensive backs Jordan Mabin and C.J. Wilson, worked out for the Buccaneers, according to Wilson (via Twitter).
Packers Promote Garth Gerhart To Roster
The Packers have made a pair of transactions involving centers, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has placed J.C. Tretter on injured reserve with the designation to return. In his place, Green Bay has promoted Garth Gerhart from the practice squad to the active roster.
Tretter, who missed his rookie season last year, with leg and ankle injuries, was sidelined during the preseason with a knee injury, and had been viewed for the last week or so as the top candidate for Green Bay’s IR-DTR spot. In his absence, rookie Corey Linsley is expected to start for the Packers at center.
The Packers now have an opening on their practice squad, which they’ll likely fill in the near future. Additionally, Green Bay becomes the 10th NFL team to use its IR-DTR spot.
Saints, Junior Galette Agree On Extension
The Saints and Junior Galette have reached an agreement on a four-year contract extension which will keep the standout edge defender under team control through the 2019 season, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). According to Rapoport (via Twitter), the new deal is worth $41.5MM, with $23.5MM in guarantees. We’ll have to wait for further details to find out if that’s all new money, and how much is actually fully guaranteed.
Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports first reported yesterday that Galette and the Saints had reached an agreement, but the 26-year-old and his agent quickly shot that down. While the two sides may still have been putting the finishing touches on the agreement, it’s clear that, as we suspected, Getlin was right about the talks becoming serious.
Galette, who inked a three-year deal with the team in March of 2013, technically still had two years remaining on that contract, but New Orleans decided to reward him for a breakout season in which he became a full-time player and recorded 12 sacks. Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required) ranked Galette as the 12th-best 3-4 outside linebacker in the NFL last season, out of 42 qualified players.
As Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap details, Galette’s previous deal could have voided after the 2014 season if he recorded 24 total sacks in 2013 and 2014, which further explains why the Saints were interested in getting something done now. If Galette had matched his 2013 production this season, he’d have been eligible to hit the open market in March.
Saints Re-Sign Robert Meachem
After releasing several notable players during their cutdown to 53 players, the Saints have now brought a couple of those veterans back into the fold. According to head coach Sean Payton (Twitter link), in addition to re-signing kicker Shayne Graham, the club has also inked wideout Robert Meachem to a new deal. In a corresponding roster move, linebacker Khairi Fortt has been placed on injured reserve with the designation to return.
Meachem, 29, was selected by the Saints in the first round of the 2007 draft and spent five seasons with the team before playing in San Diego during the 2012 season. The Tennessee product returned to the Saints last season in a reduced role — after averaging 43 catches per season in New Orleans from 2009 to 2011, Meachem hauled in just 16 passes last season for 324 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The departure of veterans Darren Sproles and Lance Moore could mean a few more balls to go around for the team’s receivers this season, but second-year wideout Kenny Stills and rookie Brandin Cooks will likely grab a good chunk of those targets, so I’d expect Meachem to see limited action once again in 2014.
Fortt, a fourth-round pick this year, will be eligible to return to practice after Week 6 and can play in games after Week 8.
IR Players With Designation To Return
As of 3:00pm central time on Tuesday, NFL teams could begin adding players to injured reserve lists with the designation to return. Unlike the usual IR list, which keeps a player inactive all season or until he reaches an injury settlement with his team, this shorter-term IR list allows a player to begin practicing after six weeks and to begin playing in games after eight weeks.
Of course, whereas the standard injured reserve list can accommodate several players at once, NFL teams can only use the designation to return on one player, so teams must be cautious about how to fire that single bullet. So far, a handful of clubs have taken advantage of the opportunity to use the IR-DTR spot, so we’ll list all those players right here. If other clubs decide to use their openings at any point, we’ll note that below as well.
Here’s the full list so far:
AFC East:
- Buffalo Bills: Used on C.J. Spiller, RB (collarbone) after Week 7
- Miami Dolphins: Unused
- New England Patriots: Used on Sealver Siliga, DL (foot) after Week 3
- New York Jets: Unused
AFC North:
- Baltimore Ravens: Used on Asa Jackson, CB (foot) after Week 5
- Cincinnati Bengals: Used on Tyler Eifert, TE (elbow) after Week 1
- Cleveland Browns: Used on John Hughes, DE (knee) after Week 8
- Pittsburgh Steelers: Used on Jarvis Jones, LB (wrist) after Week 3
AFC South:
- Houston Texans: Unused
- Indianapolis Colts: Used on Xavier Nixon, T (knee)
- Jacksonville Jaguars: Used on Marcedes Lewis, TE (ankle) after Week 2
- Tennessee Titans: Unused
AFC West:
- Denver Broncos: Used on Danny Trevathan, LB (knee) after Week 6
- Kansas City Chiefs: Used on Joe Mays, LB (wrist)
- Oakland Raiders: Used on Rod Streater, WR (foot) after Week 4
- San Diego Chargers: Used on Melvin Ingram, OLB (hip) after Week 2
NFC East:
- Dallas Cowboys: Used on Demarcus Lawrence, DE/OLB (foot)
- New York Giants: Used on Geoff Schwartz, G (toe)
- Philadelphia Eagles: Used on Evan Mathis, G (knee) after Week 1
- Washington Redskins: Used on Barry Cofield, DT (ankle) after Week 1
NFC North:
- Chicago Bears: Used on Marquess Wilson, WR (collarbone)
- Detroit Lions: Used on Kyle Van Noy, LB (abdomen)
- Green Bay Packers: Used on J.C. Tretter, C (knee)
- Minnesota Vikings: Unused
NFC South:
- Atlanta Falcons: Used on William Moore, S (shoulder) after Week 4
- Carolina Panthers: Used on Mike Tolbert, RB (leg) after Week 3
- New Orleans Saints: Used on Khairi Fortt, LB (leg)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Used on Charles Sims, RB (ankle)
NFC West:
- Arizona Cardinals: Used on Matt Shaughnessy, LB (knee) after Week 5
- San Francisco 49ers: Used on Glenn Dorsey, DT (biceps)
- Seattle Seahawks: Used on Jeremy Lane, CB (groin) after Week 1
- St. Louis Rams: Used on Chris Long, DE (ankle) after Week 1