Bengals Cut Danieal Manning, Down To 53
After parting ways with veteran running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis yesterday, the Bengals listed another familiar name among their final wave of cuts today, with safety Danieal Manning receiving his release. Per a series of tweets from the team, here’s the complete list of transactions that got the roster count down to 53 players:
Released:
- Danieal Manning, S
- Will Svitek, T
Waived:
- Orson Charles, TE
- Dan France, T
- Cobi Hamilton, WR
- David King, DT
- Colin Lockett, WR
- Onterio McCalebb, CB
- Dontay Moch, DE
- Sam Montgomery, DE
- Trevor Robinson, C
- Devon Still, DT
- Nikita Whitlock, FB
- James Wilder, RB
Placed on injured reserve:
- Trey Hopkins, G
Placed on reserve/non-football injury list:
- A.J. McCarron, QB
Waived from injured reserve:
- Lavelle Westbrooks, CB
Steelers Reduce Roster To 53 Players
The Steelers have become the latest team to reduce their roster count to 53 players in advance of this afternoon’s deadline. Here are the 22 players cut from the club’s active roster today, per a press release:
- Rob Blanchflower, TE
- Chris Carter, LB
- Bryce Davis, TE
- Isaiah Green, DB
- Josh Harris, RB
- Ethan Hemer, DL
- Stephen Houston, RB
- Howard Jones, LB
- Brendon Kay, QB
- Josh Mauro, DL
- Dan Molls, LB
- Derek Moye, WR
- Dayonne Nunley, DB
- David Paulson, T
- Roy Philon, DL
- Graham Pocic, OL
- Shaquille Richardson, DB
- Lanear Sampson, WR
- Will Simmons, OL
- Ross Ventrone, DB
- Guy Whimper, OL
- Nick Williams, DL
Eagles Reduce Roster To 53 Players
The Eagles have officially finalized their 53-man roster, according to the team. In a press release, the Eagles announced the roster moves they made to get down to the regular-season limit. They are as follows:
- Kenjon Barner, RB (waived with injury settlement)
- Roc Carmichael, CB (cut)
- Kevin Graf, OL (cut)
- Alex Henery, K (cut)
- Damaris Johnson, WR (cut)
- Keelan Johnson, S (cut)
- Lane Johnson, OT (placed on reserve-suspended list)
- Josh Kaddu, LB (cut)
- Wade Keliilipi, DT (cut)
- Curtis Marsh, CB (cut)
- Will Murphy, WR (cut)
- Ed Reynolds, S (cut)
- Damion Square, DT (cut)
- Matthew Tucker, RB (cut)
The Eagles’ other eight roster-trimming moves were reported yesterday.
Seahawks Release Eric Winston
As part of their reduction to 53 players, the Seahawks have released veteran offensive tackle Eric Winston, a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link). Winston signed with Seattle near the end of July, so he only lasted about a month on the team’s roster.
Winston, 30, has been one of the league’s most durable linemen over the last few years, starting all 16 of his teams’ games in Houston, Kansas City, and – most recently – Arizona in each of the last seven seasons. According to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required), the former third-round pick ranked as just the 69th-best tackle out of 76 qualified players last season. However, that may have been an aberration, considering Winston recorded consistently positive grades in every year leading up to 2013.
The president of the NFLPA, Winston looked to have a decent chance at a roster spot, or even a place in the starting lineup, in Seattle, where the departure of Breno Giacomini in free agency, along with Michael Bowie‘s release, left the right tackle position up for grabs. Instead, he’ll return to the free agent market.
James Harrison Announces Retirement
After a brief flirtation this week with the Cardinals, James Harrison decided not to sign with the club, and in fact won’t be joining any NFL team this season. The longtime Steelers linebacker officially announced his retirement from the NFL this morning, via Facebook. Here’s Harrison’s statement, in full:
“I have made the difficult decision to retire as of today. My love for my family and the need to be there for them outweighs my desire to play the game. I have missed too many experiences with them because I devoted SO much time to my career. My love for the game isn’t strong enough to make up for missing one more birthday or first day of school. I am retiring as a man who is truly grateful for all of his blessings. I am sincerely thankful to the people who have supported me over the years, first and foremost my family, the Rooney family and my Steeler family, also Mr. Brown, the Bengals organization and fans, and last but FAR from least, Steeler Nation. Thank you.”
While Harrison played the 2013 season with the Bengals, most of his NFL career was spent in Pittsburgh, where he earned spots in five consecutive Pro Bowls from 2007-11. The 36-year-old logged 146 career games, including 105 starts, racking up 647 overall tackles and 66 sacks. His best season probably came in 2008, when he recorded 101 tackles, 16 sacks, and seven forced fumbles for the Steelers, earning a first-team All-Pro nod.
Harrison retires from the NFL having won two Super Bowls with the Steelers.
Minor Moves: Friday Night
As our transactions log shows, it’s been a busy day for roster moves around the NFL, and tomorrow will be even more hectic, as teams cut their rosters down to 53 active players in advance of the 3:00pm CT deadline. As we look forward to what should be a fun Saturday, let’s round up a few more odds and ends from Friday’s transactions wire….
- Kicker John Potter (Dolphins) and defensive back Devin Smith (Steelers) have been removed from their team’s respective injured lists with injury settlements, tweets Wilson.
- Two Raiders have posted the news of their own waiving via social media: DE Jack Crawford (via Instagram) and TE Jake Murphy (via Twitter) each indicated they had been cut by Oakland.
Earlier Updates:
- According to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links), the Cowboys waived a pair of players today, parting ways with wide receiver Jamar Newsome and running back D.J. Adams.
- The Dolphins began trimming their roster from 75 players to 53 today, informing tight end Kyle Miller that he’s being cut, reports Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
- Packers tackle Aaron Adams has suffered a torn ACL and MCL, and will be placed on injured reserve, tweets Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. Adams would have been in contention for a spot at the back end of the 53-man roster had he remained healthy.
- The Lions and 49ers both freed up some cap space by restructuring the contracts of safety Glover Quin and defensive lineman Ray McDonald, respectively, per reports by Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com and Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link). We don’t have the specific details yet on either move, but they were likely simple restructures, converting a portion of the players’ base salaries into signing bonuses.
- The following players were cut off their respective teams’ injured reserve lists with injury settlements, according to reports from John Oesher of Jaguars.com, Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com, and Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (all Twitter links): Defensive end David Carter (Jaguars), linebacker Jamar Chaney (Broncos), and safety DeJon Gomes (Lions).
Rams Start Trimming Roster Down To 53
Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has been tweeting out the details on the Rams’ first wave of final cuts this afternoon, as the team has now parted ways with five players from its 75-man roster. Here, via Thomas, are the players cut by St. Louis so far, with any further cuts added to the list throughout the day:
- Emory Blake (WR) (via Thomas on Twitter, 8:04pm)
- Travis Bond (G) (via Thomas on Twitter, 8:04pm)
- Kourtnei Brown (DE) (via Tom Pelissero on Twitter, 4:46pm)
- Avery Cunningham (S)
- Garrett Gilbert (QB) (via Pelissero on Twitter, 4:46pm)
- Deantre Harlan (DT) (via Pelissero on Twitter, 4:46pm)
- Aaron Hill (LB) (via Thomas on Twitter, 10:13pm)
- Sean Hooey (OL)
- Etienne Sabino (LB) (via Thomas on Twitter, 7:24pm)
- Brad Smelley (TE)
- Phillip Steward (LB)
- Mitchell Van Dyk (OL)
- Justin Veltung (WR) (via Thomas on Twitter, 10:13pm)
- Darren Woodard (CB) (via Thomas on Twitter, 8:04pm)
Cardinals Cut Isaac Sopoaga, Marcus Benard
Two notable veterans are among the Cardinals’ latest wave of cuts, according to Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports, who reports (Twitter links) that defensive tackle Isaac Sopoaga and linebacker Marcus Benard have been released by the team. The decisions suggest that new addition Tommy Kelly has impressed the Cardinals so far at defensive tackle, and that the club doesn’t feel like Benard has earned a spot on its linebacking corps even following Daryl Washington‘s year-long suspension.
Here are all of today’s Cardinals cuts, with any additional moves inserted into the list throughout the day:
- Marcus Benard (LB)
- Dan Buckner (WR) (via Adam Caplan on Twitter)
- John Estes (C/G) (via Getlin on Twitter)
- Bryan McCann (CB) (via Josh Weinfuss on Twitter, 5:34pm)
- Jalen Parmele (RB) (via Weinfuss on Twitter, 8:34pm)
- Isaac Sopoaga (DT)
- Curtis Taylor (S) (via Aaron Wilson on Twitter, 4:05pm)
Broncos Start Trimming Roster Down To 53
The defending AFC champions are the latest team to begin reducing their 75-man roster to the regular-season limit of 53 players in advance of tomorrow’s 3:00pm CT deadline. Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports, Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post, and Mike Klis of the Denver Post have the names that are part of the Broncos’ first wave of final cuts, so let’s round them up. The following players are no longer on Denver’s active roster:
- L.J. Fort, LB (via Wilson on Twitter)
- Jameson Konz, TE (via Klis on Twitter, 5:38pm)
- Ryan Miller, OL (via Klis on Twitter, 5:15pm)
- Cameron Morrah, TE (via Klis on Twitter, 5:38pm)
- Jerome Murphy, DB (via Getlin on Twitter)
- Jordan Sullen, DB (via Klis on Twitter)
Titans Sign Jurrell Casey To Extension
FRIDAY, 5:22pm: According to Brian McIntyre (via Twitter), Casey’s new deal includes $13MM in fully guaranteed money — a $10.6MM signing bonus and $2.4MM in base-salary money.
WEDNESDAY, 4:35pm: The Titans and Jurrell Casey have agreed to a contract extension that will keep the defensive lineman in Tennessee beyond the coming year, according to agent Drew Rosenhaus, who tweeted a photo of Casey signing the deal. Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (via Twitter), it’s a four-year extension worth $36MM, with $20.5MM in guarantees. However, it’s not clear how much of that $20.5MM is fully guaranteed.
“We are excited to come to an agreement on an extension with Jurrell,” said Titans GM Ruston Webster in a press release confirming the deal. “This is something Jurrell has earned not only with his play on the field but his work ethic as well. We appreciate Jurrell’s professionalism through this process and look forward to many good years to come.”
Casey, 24, is coming off a breakout season in which he compiled 10.5 sacks and 55 tackles, ranking fourth among 69 qualified defensive tackles, per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required). Casey’s pass-rushing grades placed him behind only Gerald McCoy and Ndamukong Suh as an interior rusher, as he racked up 54 quarterback pressures for the season.
Not coincidentally, Suh and McCoy are the league’s top two highest-paid defensive tackles by per-year salary, so the Titans did well to lock up their star lineman for less than $10MM per year. Suh and McCoy are making average annual salaries of $12.9MM and $11MM respectively on their current pacts.
2014 was set to be the final year of Casey’s rookie contract, which paid him $1.431MM for the coming season. Based on the reported numbers on his extension, Casey should now be locked up through the 2018 season, and he should become Tennessee’s highest-paid player by annual salary, at $9MM per year. Jason McCourty‘s $8.6MM average per-year salary had previous been the top figure on the Titans’ books.
Locking up Casey had been a priority for the Titans this summer, with reports dating back to early June suggesting extension talks were underway between the two sides. Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean reported yesterday that Rosenhaus was in Tennessee to negotiate a deal for Casey in person, which was viewed as a positive sign. It appears as if Rosenhaus and the Titans were able to put the finishing touches on the new deal during that face-to-face meeting.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.