Pats Cut Six Players, Place Two On IR
3:45pm: The Pats are now down to 75 players, after officially announcing their last few roster moves of the day. According to a press release, New England also cut defensive lineman Ben Bass and defensive back Jemea Thomas, and placed linebacker Cameron Gordon on injured reserve.
12:14pm: Defensive back Travis Hawkins will also be waived by the Pats, according to Howe (via Twitter).
12:12pm: The Patriots continue to reduce their roster count on their way to getting down to 75 players by this afternoon’s deadline. While the team has yet to officially announce its latest transactions, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reports (via Twitter) that rookie receiver Wilson Van Hooser has been waived and that the team will place running back Tyler Gaffney on injured reserve. Additionally, wideout Derrick Johnson and linebacker Deontae Skinner will be among the Pats’ cuts, according to reports from Christopher Price of WEEI.com and Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).
According to Howe (via Twitter), Van Hooser has already received some interest from a couple other NFL teams, and looks like a candidate to land on a practice squad somewhere. The wideout could technically still end up signing with New England’s practice squad, though typically a player waived during the first wave of cuts won’t be among a team’s top choices.
As for Gaffney, the Pats originally claimed him off waivers from Carolina, when the Panthers tried to sneak him through to their own injured reserve list. However, by hanging on to him until roster cutdowns, New England will no longer have to put Gaffney through waivers to place him on IR.
By our count, New England will still have 79 active players on its roster after these four moves, so four more transactions will be necessary this afternoon.
Dolphins Cut Brady Quinn, Seven Others
3:30pm: The Dolphins have formally announced their other nine roster moves (Twitter link). The following players have been removed from the active roster:
Waived:
- Brett Brackett, TE
- Steven Clarke, CB
- Rakim Cox, DE
- Cory Grissom, DT
- Tyler Larsen, C
- Ryan Spadola, WR
Placed on injured reserve:
- A.J. Francis, DT
- Mike Gillislee, RB
- Arthur Lynch, TE
3:11pm: The Dolphins must officially remove 11 players from their active roster today, and while the team has yet to announce those moves, a pair of cuts have been reported so far. Veteran quarterback Brady Quinn passed along word of his own release, tweeting that his time with the team was “short-lived,” but that he “enjoyed every second.” Besides Quinn, wide receiver Armon Binns will also be one of Miami’s roster casualties, tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
Quinn, who spent time in 2013 with the Seahawks, Jets and Rams, didn’t see any action during the regular season, and didn’t join a new team this year until about two weeks ago, when he signed with Miami. Viewed as a stopgap signing for a team in need of healthy camp arms, Quinn was never a threat to unseat backup signal-caller Matt Moore, let alone starter Ryan Tannehill. Perhaps now if the team has injuries problems in the regular season though, Quinn will get a look.
As for Binns, his best NFL season came in 2012, when he caught 24 total balls during his time with the Bengals and Dolphins. After missing the 2013 campaign, he didn’t appear to be in Miami’s plans for 2014.
Steelers Cut 15 Players
3:25pm: The Steelers have made their remaining six cuts, and Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter link) has the list of players who are no longer on the team’s active roster:
- Brian Arnfelt, DL
- Chris Elkins, OL
- Hebron Fangupo, DL
- Luke Ingram, LS
- Emmanuel McCray, OL
- Tauren Poole, RB
7:52am: The Steelers have become the latest team to make a series of roster cuts in advance of today’s 75-man deadline. According to the club’s PR rep Burt Lauten (via Twitter), the Steelers parted ways with nine players this morning, meaning they’ll still need to make an additional six cuts by this afternoon. Here are the players no longer with the team:
- Jordan Dangerfield, DB
- C.J. Goodwin, WR
- Jordan Hall, RB
- Miguel Maysonet, RB
- Kashif Moore, WR
- Devin Smith, DB
- Vic So’oto, LB
- Lew Toler, DB
- Eric Waters, TE
Titans Make Cuts, Will Work Out Feely
The Titans have made four transactions in order to reduce their roster count from 79 players to 75, per Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Here are the four players no longer on the team’s active roster:
- David Hinds, LB (waived)
- Gabe Ikard, C (waived-injured)
- Colin McCarthy, LB (placed on injured reserve)
- Isaiah Williams, WR (waived)
In addition to making that series of roster moves, the Titans are also eyeing kicker Jay Feely, who was recently released by the Cardinals, tweets Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean. Feely, who joined the Cards in 2010, kicked for the team for the last three years of Ken Whisenhunt’s tenure in Arizona, so the current Titans head coach is familiar with the veteran. According to Wyatt, the club will host Feely for a workout.
The Titans also may be ramping up extension talks for defensive lineman Jurrell Casey. As Wyatt writes, agent Drew Rosenhaus is in Nashville today to discuss a new deal for his client, so while an agreement may not be imminent, a face-to-face meeting seems to be a step in the right direction. Per Wyatt, the two sides have been in contact about an extension for Casey since first broaching the topic earlier in the summer.
Rams Place Bradford On IR, Roster Down To 75
The Rams have formally placed Sam Bradford on season-ending injured reserve, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). The move had been expected, but now – with this afternoon’s first cutdown deadline looming – it has been made official.
St. Louis came into the day with 79 players on its active roster, so in addition to putting Bradford on IR, the team also made three other roster moves. Thomas tweets that seventh-round center Demetrius Rhaney, who has a knee injury, will join the quarterback on the team’s injured reserve list. Additionally, safety Matt Daniels and defensive end Sammy Brown have been waived, according to Thomas (Twitter links).
The Rams’ final cutdown this weekend will draw a little more national attention than usual, as we wait to see whether seventh-round defensive end Michael Sam is among the 53 players the team will carry into the regular season.
Chargers Cut Ghee, Place Three On IR
About five and a half months after signing him during the first week of the league’s 2014 free agent period, the Chargers have parted ways with defensive back Brandon Ghee, according to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter links). Although Ghee, who received $300K guaranteed when he signed with the team, was one of five players removed from San Diego’s active roster today, he was the only player who was cut outright.
Per Gehlken, here are the Chargers’ other transactions, which reduced their roster to 75 players:
Placed on injured reserve:
- Marcus Cromartie, CB
- Kwame Geathers, DT
- Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe, DE
Placed on reserve/PUP list:
Cowboys Cut Caleb Hanie, 10 Others
The Cowboys are the latest NFL team to trim its roster to 75 players, with former Bears quarterback Caleb Hanie and former fourth-round pick Matt Johnson among the players cut today by Dallas. Per Todd Archer of ESPN.com (via Twitter), here’s the full list of roster moves made by the Cowboys in advance of this afternoon’s deadline:
Cut:
- Chris Boyd, WR
- Caleb Hanie, QB
- Tom Hornsey, P
- Casey Kreiter, LS
- Adewale Ojomo, DE
- Wayne Tribue, G
Waived-injured:
- Justin Green, CB
- DeVonte Holloman, LB
- Matt Johnson, S
- Jordan Najvar, TE
- Johnny Thomas, S
Placed on injured reserve:
- Ben Gardner, DE
Placed on reserve/non-football injury list:
- Amobi Okoye, DT
Colts Place Ballard, John, Karim On IR
The Colts have reduced their roster count from 79 players to 75 without waiving or releasing anyone, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, who reports (via Twitter) that Indianapolis has made the following roster moves:
Placed on injured reserve list:
- Vick Ballard, RB
- Ulrick John, OT
- Deji Karim, RB
Placed on reserve/PUP list:
- Stanley Havili, RB
The three players placed on IR won’t have to pass through waivers, since the Colts waited until the first roster cutdown date to move them to the injured reserve list. As for Havili, he’ll be eligible to return to the team’s active list after the season’s first six weeks.
Saints, Eagles, Bears Down To 75 Players
The Saints have officially announced their roster cuts down to 75 players, and many of the names – most notably linebacker Victor Butler – have previously been reported. However, three players’ releases had previously been unreported. According to the team (via Twitter), quarterback Logan Kilgore, linebacker Kevin Reddick, and defensive back Rod Sweeting are among the players who didn’t make the cut down to 75.
The Eagles, who were vanquished from last year’s playoffs by New Orleans, have also finalized their 75-man roster in advance of this afternoon’s deadline. Sheil Kapadia of PhillyMag.com tweets that offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde has been waived by the team with an injury settlement. In a series of tweets, Vandervelde thanked the organization for the opportunity.
Meanwhile, a third NFC playoff contender has also trimmed its roster down to 75 players, with the Bears announcing today (via Twitter) that offensive lineman James Brown and cornerback Isaiah Frey are the latest roster casualties in Chicago.
All three teams, as well as the NFL’s other 29, will have until Saturday afternoon to further cut their rosters down to 53 active players.
Bengals Waive Six Players, Down To 75
The Bengals have taken six players off their active roster, reducing their player count to 75 in advance of this afternoon’s roster cutdown deadline. Per Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter links), here are the six players cut today by the Bengals:
- Kevin Brock, TE
- Jasper Collins, WR
- James Davidson, LB
- J.K. Schaffer, LB (waived-injured)
- Matt Scott, QB
- Lavelle Westbrooks, CB (waived-injured)