Minor NFL Transactions: 8/21/16
Here are today’s minor moves:
- The Colts announced that they’ve signed free agent offensive linemen Eric Herman and Keith Lumpkin, while waiving guard Donovan Williams and waiving/injured tackle Kevin Graf. If Graf clears waivers, he’ll revert to Indy’s injured reserve list.
- The Patriots have waived safety Cedric Thompson, as his agent David Canter tweets. New England signed Thompson to a futures deal in January.
- The Buccaneers have reached an injury settlement with safety Elijah Shumate, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). As such, Shumate has been removed from Tampa’s IR injured reserve list.
Earlier updates
- The Eagles have cut WR T.J. Graham, C Bruce Johnson, RB Cedric O’Neal, and WR Xavier Rush, per the team’s official Twitter account.
- The Browns have signed WR Josh Boyce, whom New England selected in the fourth round of the 2013 draft, and waived/injured 2016 UDFA Dennis Parks, as Nate Ulrich of The Akron Beacon Journal reports. Boyce spent most of this year with the Colts before he was waived on August 16. He has nine catches for 121 yards in his professional career.
East Notes: J. Brown, Petty, Pead
Giants rookie kicker Tom Obarski missed a 28-yard field goal during yesterday’s preseason contest against Buffalo, and, predictably, several members of the team’s brass were asked after the game about the controversy surrounding incumbent kicker Josh Brown. As Paul Schwartz of The New York Post writes, co-owner John Mara told reporters, “I know what you’re going to ask me about. Check with me again next week, but I don’t have anything to say about it.” GM Jerry Reese declined to comment at all about Brown, and head coach Ben McAdoo said, “I’ve said everything I have to say on that situation.” Brown himself also declined to comment.
As Big Blue attempts to sort out its suddenly volatile kicking situation, let’s take a look at some other notes from the league’s east divisions:
- Manish Mehta of The New York Daily News believes Jets QB Bryce Petty has not only earned his spot on the team’s roster, he has earned a chance to compete with Geno Smith for the backup quarterback job. Rich Cimini of ESPN.com notes that the Jets are currently “trending toward” keeping four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster–Ryan Fitzpatrick, Petty, Smith, and rookie Christian Hackenberg–which recent history suggests is not a wise decision.
- Cimini also observes that the Jets will need to create some salary cap room, as the club has just $1.2MM of space at the moment and will need money for a practice squad, an additional two players on the cap–currently, only 51 count–and potential injury replacements. The problem is that there is not much “fat” on the roster in terms of potential cap casualties. The team could create $4.4MM of space by cutting Breno Giacomini, who has not practiced due to a back injury, but he is the club’s only experienced right tackle.
- Dolphins running back Isaiah Pead, who was signed to be little more than a camp body, has been the team’s best back this preseason, says Adam H. Beasley of The Miami Herald. Miami’s running back depth chart includes Jay Ajayi, Damien Williams, Kenyan Drake, and Arian Foster, but Drake hasn’t practiced in weeks after sustaining a hamstring injury, which means that Pead could fill one of the team’s projected four RB openings. Pead was given coveted first-team snaps in the Dolphins’ second preseason contest, the clearest sign yet that he might be on the right side of the roster bubble.
- Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com takes a look at five Redskins currently on the roster bubble, a list headlined by LB Perry Riley.
- Earlier today, we learned that the injury bug has bitten the Patriots in a big way.
Dion Lewis Needs Second Knee Surgery; Sebastian Vollmer To IR
Patriots running back Dion Lewis, who tore his ACL last November, will need a second knee surgery, according to Jim McBride of The Boston Globe (via Twitter). Interestingly, this report came on the heels of a tweet from NESN’s Doug Kyed, who indicated that Lewis had just walked into the team’s locker room with no knee brace. Kyed, however, subsequently deferred to McBride’s report.
Luckily for the Patriots, Tom E. Curran of CSNNE.com reports that, although the nature of the procedure is not yet known, it does not involve the ACL or any other ligaments. Depending upon when he has the procedure, it should be about eight to 10 weeks before Lewis can begin training, which means he will begin the season on the PUP list.
Lewis was a key cog of New England’s offense before his ACL tear, rushing 49 times for 234 yards and catching 36 passes for 388 yards. He also scored four total touchdowns, two through the air and two on the ground. After just three games with the club, Lewis signed a team-friendly, two-year extension that gave the diminutive back–who had not played a single regular season snap between 2012 and 2015–some much-needed financial security. He tore his ACL a month later.
It was reported just two weeks ago that Lewis had not suffered a setback in his recovery, and that he was still on track to play Week 1. Now, players like James White and James Develin could see their playing time increase, and while White has been solid in the preseason, Lewis’ injury is still a major blow, particularly in light of Tom Brady‘s suspension.
As if that was not bad enough, McBride also tweets that offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer, who has been on the PUP list with an undisclosed injury, will be placed on IR. It is unclear whether he will land on season-ending IR, or if he will be given a “Designated to Return” status, though Kyed suspects that Vollmer’s season will indeed be over, since the Patriots could have just kept Vollmer on the PUP list if they expected him to return this year.
Vollmer, when healthy, has been a mainstay at tackle for New England since 2009. However, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked Vollmer as the 42nd-best tackle out of 77 qualified players last season, and he was thought to be on the roster bubble earlier this year. His contract is set to expire at the end of the 2016 campaign, and Marcus Cannon will likely serve as the team’s starting right tackle in Vollmer’s absence.
McBride was not done delivering bad news, as he also tweeted that second-year guard Shaq Mason suffered a broken right hand and will be out indefinitely. As Albert Breer of TheMMQB tweets, these injury reports are especially unwelcome for New England, as running back and offensive line are the only two real question marks on the team’s roster.
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North Notes: Rudock, Orlovsky, Mallett
Through the first two games of the preseason, Lions rookie quarterback Jake Rudock has outplayed veteran Dan Orlovsky by a wide margin, which has left many wondering who will serve as Matthew Stafford‘s primary backup in 2016. Although Orlovsky entered training camp with a huge lead over the rookie for the backup job, and few expected Rudock to seriously vie for it — indeed, Orlovsky has the game experience that a team looks for in a No. 2 signal-caller, and Rudock did not play very well during Detroit’s offseason program — Rudock’s performance and Orlovsky’s struggles in the preseason may leave head coach Jim Caldwell with a difficult decision. When asked who he expected to win the job, Caldwell said, “the best player, period” (article via Kyle Meinke of MLive.com).
Of course, as Meinke observes, the best player for the short term isn’t always the best player for the long term, so Caldwell’s comments do not add much clarity, and Caldwell would reveal little else about how the Lions would go about choosing between the quarterbacks, other than to say the club is weighing its options. As Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Press writes, if the Lions keep all three quarterbacks, you can count on Orlovsky being the No. 2 on gamedays. The real question is who the Lions keep if they carry just one backup, which is usually how New England built its roster when Lions GM Bob Quinn was in the front office there.
Now for a quick swing around the league’s North divisions:
- In a separate piece, Birkett examines Stevan Ridley‘s roster status, noting that Ridley has surprisingly been relegated to the second half of the Lions‘ first two preseason games. Ridley, the five-year veteran who was expected to challenge Zach Zenner for the “big back” role on offense, played just nine snaps during Detroit’s Thursday night contest. As Birkett notes, however, it is still too early to read too much into preseason playing time, especially since Ridley is easily the most accomplished of the group of backs fighting for a roster spot behind Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick. Similarly, Caldwell said the Lions are still figuring out their running back rotation, and preseason performance is only one part of the formula.
- Although it was believed that the Ravens signed veteran signal-caller Josh Johnson to be little more than a camp arm, with Ryan Mallett firmly entrenched as Joe Flacco‘s backup, Johnson has played very well in Baltimore’s first two preseason contests, and head coach John Harbaugh indicated last night that there is indeed a legitimate battle for the backup job between Johnson and Mallett (Twitter link via Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun). Mallett has also played reasonably well during the preseason games but has struggled mightily during training camp. Whether Harbaugh’s comments have any truth behind them, or whether they are simply intended to motivate Mallett, remains to be seen.
- Chris Tomasson of The St. Paul Pioneer Press believes that the battle for the Vikings‘ starting strong safety spot will again come down to the wire, just as it has in each of the past two seasons. As Tomasson writes, incumbent Andrew Sendejo got the nod in the Aug. 12 preseason opener at Cincinnati before Michael Griffin started in Thursday’s 18-11 win at Seattle. There are two more games left for the two to fight it out.
- Earlier today, we learned what Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell had to say about his suspension.
Le’Veon Bell Speaks About Suspension
After having his four-game suspension reduced to three games as part of a settlement between the NFL and NFLPA, Steelers star running back Le’Veon Bell spoke briefly about his punishment on Saturday, and he largely took ownership of his mistake (AP article via ESPN.com). Bell said, “I already apologized to my teammates, my coaches and Steeler Nation. I’m sincerely sorry about everything I put everybody through. It’s been frustrating, and I own up to everything. It’s all my fault, and I can’t blame nobody else for that.”
Of course, this marks the second time that Bell has been suspended in his professional career. He sat out the first two games of the 2015 season as punishment for his arrest in August 2014 on DUI and marijuana possession charges following a traffic stop. On that point, Bell said, “It [stinks] to keep having to miss time. I want to play football and be out there with my teammates. I accept the suspension. I just have to learn from this and move on.”
At the same time he appeared to accept full responsibility for the suspension, Bell also attempted to deflect some criticism, as Ray Fittipaldo of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes. Bell indicated that the video he posted on social media on Friday — one he later deleted — included everything he wanted to say about this matter, and in that video he claimed he was not able to come to the Steelers’ facility for testing in December and January and that the drug testers were unable to come to him. He also said he overslept in April when a test was to be administered at 5:37 in the morning.
When pressed Saturday on whether the process was fair, Bell said, “It’s not that hard of a process. I didn’t do everything right. I didn’t do everything wrong either. I just want to move on from it and keep pushing.”
Bell will miss the first three games of the regular season against the Redskins, Bengals and Eagles, but he will be eligible to return on September 26 before the Steelers’ Week 4 home game against the Chiefs. He will be allowed to train at the team’s practice facility, but he won’t be allowed to practice during his suspension.
Veteran back DeAngelo Williams, who thrived in his first season with the Steelers in 2015, will again shoulder the load in Bell’s absence, as Roster Resource indicates.
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Lane Johnson Will Appeal Any Suspension
Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson, who is expected to be suspended 10 games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances, says he will appeal the suspension when it is finally handed out, as Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com writes. Johnson has previously indicated that he took a league-approved amino acid but tested positive for peptide. In addition to fighting the suspension, he has also said that he will take action against the manufacturer of the substance.
As Shorr-Parks reports, the league is expected to levy the suspension sometime around the start of Week 1. That time frame, along with Johnson’s plan to appeal the suspension, could create some difficult decisions for first-year head coach Doug Pederson. Since news of Johnson’s failed test was made public, the Eagles have been practicing with Johnson on the second-string offense, not with the starters, and in the team’s preseason contest against Pittsburgh on Thursday night, Johnson played with the backups while Allen Barbre started at tackle.
But if Johnson is eligible to play the first week or two of the regular season, either because the suspension has not yet been handed down or because it has been levied and Johnson has appealed it, will Pederson keep him in the lineup? Or will he preemptively replace Johnson in an effort to begin creating continuity among the group of linemen that will be playing together in Johnson’s absence? Those are questions that should be answered in the next couple of weeks.
Losing Johnson for any period of time, of course, would be a major blow to the Eagles. He has started in each of his 44 career appearances, and Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked the 6-foot-6, 317-pounder 22nd among 77 qualified tackles in overall performance last season. In January, Philadelphia rewarded him with a hefty extension through 2021.
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Minor NFL Transactions: 8/14/16
Here are today’s minor moves:
- The Dolphins have signed defensive end Cedric Reed, tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The former Texas product spent last season on the Bills’ practice squad.
- The Eagles have released offensive lineman Malcolm Bunche and wideout Deon Long, reports Zach Berman of The Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). Bunche, a 2015 undrafted free agent, spent last season on Philly’s practice squad. Long, meanwhile, was added by the Eagles in early August after having been cut by the Rams.
Earlier updates:
- The Steelers announced that they’ve placed special teams ace Ross Ventrone on injured reserve after he was injured in the club’s first preseason game. Pittsburgh also waived/injured offensive tackle Brian Mihalik and defensive tackle Roy Philon. To take those roster spots, the Steelers signed offensive tackle Wade Hansen, defensive tackle Khaynin Mosley-Smith, and cornerback Julian Whigham.
- The Falcons‘ roster is back to 90 players after the team signed defensive back Ryan White, the club announced today.
- The Jets have signed DL Jake Ceresna and RB Terry Williams, per Seth Walder of The New York Daily News (via Twitter). Walder adds that DL Christo Bilukidi left camp, and the team waived Anthony Kelly.
- The Browns have signed WR Ed Eagan and have waived/injured Rannell Hall. The team also reached an injury settlement with DL Kyle Rose (Twitter link via Nate Ulrich of The Akron Beacon Journal).
- The Cardinals have released LB Zack Wagenmann with an injury settlement and have signed DT Iosia Iosia, Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com tweets. Wagenmann, whom Arizona signed as a UDFA out of Montana last season, missed his entire rookie campaign after breaking his foot twice. He set Montana’s career sacks (37.5) and tackles for loss (53) records. The Titans signed Iosia as a UDFA this season, but he was waived in May.
IK Enemkpali Tears ACL, Out For Season
1:09pm: Enemkpali has indeed torn his ACL and will be out for the season, Rapoport tweets.
9:32am: The Bills’ defense received yet another blow yesterday, when outside linebacker IK Enemkpali suffered what head coach Rex Ryan called a “major injury” during Buffalo’s first preseason contest against the Colts (Twitter link via Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News). Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Enemkpali likely tore his ACL and will be out for the season, though an impending MRI will be needed to confirm.
Enemkpali, of course, made headlines for all the wrong reasons last season as a member of the Jets, when he punched then-teammate Geno Smith in the face and broke his jaw, which prompted Gang Green to waive Enemkpali. The former sixth-round pick out of Louisiana Tech was immediately claimed by the Bills–Ryan, of course, was the Jets’ head coach when Enemkpali was drafted–and appeared in 11 games for Buffalo in 2015.
As Roster Resource shows, Enemkpali at least figured to be an important piece of the team’s OLB rotation, and may have even landed a starting gig to open the season. After all, Enemkpali did impress during spring workouts, and he garnered some reps with the first-team defense. Ryan indicated that the Bills could look to sign a free agent OLB to replace Enemkpali, as Mike Rodak of ESPN.com writes, though of course the pickings are pretty slim at this point in the year.
The news concerning Enemkpali is especially unwelcome in light of the Bills’ recent spate of injuries on the defensive side of the ball. Just a few days ago, the team learned that inside linebacker Reggie Ragland, this year’s second-round pick, would miss the entirety of his rookie season with a torn ACL, and that prized first-round selection Shaq Lawson would not be able to suit up until at least Week 6.
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North Notes: Packers, Rudock, R. Hall
Packers WR Jeff Janis broke his right hand on Wednesday, and although a serious injury is a less-than-ideal way to solve a roster crunch, Janis’ misfortune could help resolve Green Bay’s logjam at wide receiver, as Tom Silverstein of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. Head coach Mike McCarthy all but ruled out having seven wide receivers on his 53-man roster early in camp, and if the Packers were to put Janis on IR, they could keep all six of their other drafted receivers: Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams, Ty Montgomery, Jared Abbrederis, and Trevor Davis. Of course, Green Bay could put Janis on the Injured Reserve-Designated to Return list, which means that the club could keep those other six wideouts, and if Janis is needed later on, he could be brought back for the second half of the season. Today, McCarthy said that Janis, at the very least, will not practice with the team this week (Twitter link via Silverstein).
Now let’s take a look at some more notes from around the league:
- Last season, the Packers‘ third running back spot was split between two small school products, and Bob McGinn of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that another small school back, Brandon Burks, has a real shot at landing that job in 2016. Burks, a Troy product whom the Packers signed as a UDFA this year, was terrific as a runner, receiver, and pass blocker in Green Bay’s preseason win over Cleveland on Friday night, and he offers a nice change-of-pace to Eddie Lacy and James Starks.
- The top four spots on the Lions’ wide receiver depth chart are fairly well-settled, but after Marvin Jones, Golden Tate, Anquan Boldin, and T.J. Jones, Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Press writes that there are still no clear favorites for the final one or two WR openings on the roster.
- Lions rookie signal-caller Jake Rudock looked as good as anyone could have reasonably expected during his professional debut against Pittsburgh on Friday night, and Carlos Monarrez of The Detroit Free Press wonders if the Michigan product could ascend the depth chart to become Matthew Stafford‘s primary backup this year. At the very least, continued strong performances from Rudock could convince the Lions to carry three QBs on the roster.
- Browns WR Rannell Hall, whom the club plucked off of Tampa Bay’s practice squad last December, will be out for the season after suffering a fractured fibula in Friday night’s loss to Green Bay, according to Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Hall was certainly on the roster bubble, but he would have been eligible for the practice squad and would have at least had an outside chance at a roster spot given Cleveland’s fairly thin receiving corps.
- Earlier today, we learned that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is insisting that Ladarius Green‘s absence is related to his ankle issues, not his headaches, and that Tomlin will not confirm reports that Green is experiencing lingering headaches and is considering retirement.
Jags GM Dave Caldwell On Rookies, LTs, WRs
Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell met with Alex Marvez and Mark Dominik of SiriusXM NFL Radio yesterday, and the interview produced some interesting tidbits. Here’s some of what Caldwell had to say (via Hays Carlyon of The Florida Times-Union):
On the front office’s thought process when it came to selecting Jalen Ramsey:
“I don’t think there was a lot of [debate], it was pretty unanimous. Jalen, we wanted to come out with an impact defensive player in the top five. This was the year we wanted to start focusing on crafting this defense and building it from the ground up. He’s a rare athlete. You see him on the field being as big as he is, how he moves and how explosive he is. You don’t find guys like that that come along every year. Once every couple years, you get a player of that ability.”
On what compelled the team to take a risk on Myles Jack in the second round:
“We said, let’s take a guy that we know a lot about who is excellent talent. We have to take some risk. We have to close that talent gap and we won’t do it by being very conservative. Let’s take a risk on a guy that we know is a great worker, very diligent and he’s going to take care of his body. Doctors are wrong too, just like scouts. It’s a matter of opinion. The risk was worth the reward at that point in time.”
On how third-rounder Yannick Ngakoue will fit in:
“He and [Dante Fowler, Jr.] will split time at that Leo position. In nickel, they’ll both play the ends. Both are athletic enough with their versatility they can drop into coverage and take tight ends man to man. You need more than one pass rusher. We don’t have a lot of experience here, but we feel like we have a pretty good skill set in those young guys.”
On the left tackle battle between Luke Joeckel and Kelvin Beachum:
“Luke’s probably had his best camp since we’ve been here. I think it’s maturity in his growth and physical maturity. So, it’s going to be a good battle over these next couple of weeks to see where that ends up. I expect [Joeckel] to play some left guard in the preseason. When we get Kelvin back, he did individual today, we’ll slowly bring him along.”
On the wide receiver depth chart:
“Our three spots are a little in flux, because there is no true three. If we go slot, we have Rashad Greene and Bryan Walters that are really good slot receivers. Marqise Lee can take the top off but he’s outside so then you bring one of [Allen Robinson or Allen Hurns] inside. All from our three-to-five spots, I think those guys are going to play quite a bit. Rashad is a dynamic punt returner, so that will be his focus and Bryan Walters does a really nice job on special teams too.”
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