AFC Notes: D. Carter, Browns, Sanders
Although today may not spark the same frenzy of activity and excitement that have come to signify the first day of free agency, it is still a critical date on the NFL calendar. The claiming period for players waived during final roster cuts ends at 11:00am central time today. After that, teams may establish a practice squad of 10 players. After 3:00pm central time, teams are permitted to place one player on the injured reserve list with the designation to return.
As we wait for all of today’s transactions to trickle (or flood) in, let’s take a quick swing around the AFC:
- Duron Carter, who set the CFL afire in 2014 and became the subject of many late winter rumors, was waived by the Colts during final roster cuts yesterday. However, Stephen Holder of The Indianapolis Star says the team would like to sign the promising wideout to its practice squad if he clears waivers. But given the intense amount of interest in Carter just a few months ago, the chances that he goes unclaimed seem fairly slim.
- Although Browns head coach Mike Pettine said his team won’t make a great number of moves today, Nate Ulrich of The Akron Beacon Journal says one position Cleveland will certainly be looking to bolster is the offensive line. The Browns have only six offensive lineman on their 53-man roster at the moment.
- Emmanuel Sanders will serve as the Broncos‘ primary punt returner this season, writes Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post. Head coach Gary Kubiak wants to get his explosive wideout, who had one punt return for 11 yards last season, as many touches as possible. Sanders returned 16 punts for a 10.9-yard average from 2010-12 as a member of the Steelers.
- Texans linebacker Jadeveon Clowney will be ready for next week’s season owner, per Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle. Head coach Bill O’Brien, though, would not comment as to whether Clowney would start or how many snaps he would see.
AFC East Notes: Fitzpatrick, Brady, Branch
Manish Mehta of The New York Daily News certainly doesn’t believe Ryan Fitzpatrick is the Jets‘ long-awaited savior at quarterback, but given Fitzpatrick’s performance in the team’s preseason win over the Giants on Saturday night, along with the Jets’ corps of talented wideouts and loaded defense, Mehta does think the Harvard grad could keep Gang Green in playoff contention all season.
Now for some more links from the AFC East:
- Judge Richard Berman is set to meet with NFL and NFLPA reps in court again today regarding the Tom Brady case, and a source in the Patriots quarterback’s camp tells Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (TwitLonger link) that, barring a settlement, a decision is expected by week’s end. Meanwhile, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Giants owner John Mara is attending today’s hearing.
- Ben Volin of The Boston Globe wonders if the Patriots regret signing Alan Branch to a two-year deal worth as much as $6.6MM this offseason. Branch played well for New England in 2014, but he skipped the team’s offseason workout program this year and arrived to training camp overweight and out of shape. Branch has a history of similar behavior, and since the Pats have some defensive line depth and only gave Branch $700K in guaranteed money, it would not be hard for the team to move on.
- Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald would not be surprised if the Dolphins made the somewhat unorthodox decision to try and sign kicker Andrew Franks to the team’s practice squad. Salguero notes that Franks has tremendous upside. (Twitter link).
- The Dolphins have their starting lineup mostly set as the regular season approaches, but the one exception is who will start at corner opposite Brent Grimes, writes Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald. Jamar Taylor was the leader before injuring his quadriceps, and Brice McCain hasn’t locked up the spot in his absence. Beasley writes that the great pressure the defense has gotten on the quarterback has made it difficult to evaluate the cornerback depth chart with the starting unit.
Rob DiRe contributed to this post.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/30/15
Today’s minor signings, cuts, and other moves as teams begin trimming their rosters from 90 players to 75. We will update this post as necessary throughout the course of the day. Some teams have announced major roster cuts, but for the teams that may be waiting until closer to Tuesday to release some of their transactions, here are a few roster moves.
(Some teams may announce a full set of moves later on, and these players may reappear on those lists.)
- The Packers have cut offensive tackle Vince Kowalski, reports Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). The former Villanova product was signed as an undrafted rookie free agent in June.
- The Colts have cut linebacker Justin Shirk, according to Wilson (via Twitter).
Earlier Updates:
Panthers Cut Eight Players
The Panthers have cut the following eight players, per David Newton of ESPN.com (via Twitter):
- WR Paul Browning
- WR Avius Capers
- OT Tony Hills
- DE Steve Miller
- LB Kevin Reddick
- TE Dallas Walker
- FB Lee Ward
- P Matt Wile
North Notes: A.J. Green, K. Moore, Broyles
Four elite wide receivers–Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, Julio Jones, and A.J. Green–entered this offseason hoping to sign lucrative extensions with their respective clubs. After Jones inked a five-year extension with Atlanta yesterday, Green is the only member of that group still looking for a long-term deal that will guarantee him $40-50MM and allow him to avoid the possibility of the franchise tag next year. Green didn’t have much to say on how the Jones deal will impact him personally, but per Paul Dehner, Jr. of The Cincinnati Enquirer, Green just got one step closer to his own big payday from the Bengals.
“We will see,” Green said. “If it happens, it happens. If it don’t I’ll go out there and play. We’ll see. All the receivers are getting bank so we will see if I get there.”
Now for some more links from the league’s north divisions:
- In a pair of tweets, Dehner openly wonders how the Bengals will resolve their defensive line situation. At the moment, Cincinnati has 14 defensive linemen on the roster, and Dehner wonders if the team will keep as many as 10–which would be an extraordinarily high number–and if someone like Margus Hunt could get cut. The Bengals could also seek to trade some of their D-line depth.
- The Ravens entered training camp looking for someone to step up and seize the return specialist job after the team parted ways with Jacoby Jones this offseason. Asa Jackson has gotten the most opportunities to do so, but as Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun writes, Jackson had an uneven game against Washington last night, returning a kickoff 103 yards to the Washington 2-yard line but also fumbling away a punt he had no business fielding. Head coach John Harbaugh said he still can’t handicap the return man competition.
- With injuries to promising young players Breshad Perriman and Michael Campanaro keeping them out of action, Bo Smolka of CSNBaltimore.com writes that the Ravens are still looking for someone to grab the No. 2 receiver spot behind Steve Smith, Sr. Players like Kamar Aiken and Marlon Brown have not been especially impressive in the preseason, which probably explains why the team was linked to veteran wideouts last week.
- Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune writes that last night’s preseason debacle against Cleveland proves just how thin the Bears‘ roster really is. He notes that the team will be flush with salary cap room after the 2015 season but will have too many holes to fill to rely on free agency. Biggs says the Bears’ only option is to draft their way out of their current predicament, and that it will take two or three strong draft classes to do so.
- When the Lions signed quarterback Kellen Moore to a two-year extension this offseason, they hoped he would take another step forward in his development, challenging for and potentially winning the backup quarterback job. Instead, as Justin Rogers of MLive.com writes, Moore has been outplayed by veteran Dan Orlovsky and is now in danger of being cut.
- Kyle Meinke of MLive.com believes Ryan Broyles is one of the tough cuts the Lions will be forced to make this week.
Eagles Cut 12 Players
We learned earlier today that the Eagles had cut four players: offensive lineman Mike Coccia, WR Mike Johnson, DL Alfy Hill, and DT Jeremy Towns. Per the team’s official website, Philadelphia has also waived the following eight players, bringing its roster down to 78:
- CB Marc Anthony
- S Brandan Bishop
- T Kevin Graf
- WR G.J. Kinne
- LB Dasman McCullum
- WR Josh Reese
- TE Justin Tukes
- OL Jared Wheeler
Injury Updates: 8/30/15
Here are a few updates on some of the league’s more significant injury news:
- Mehta reports (via Twitter) that Williams has a muscle strain behind his knee but that there is no ligament damage. This is not expected to be a long-term injury. Jets fans may now exhale.
Earlier updates:
- We already learned that Packers WR Randall Cobb did not break his collarbone yesterday, and per Michael Cohen of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, head coach Mike McCarthy believes Cobb’s injury is not nearly as severe as Jordy Nelson‘s season-ending ACL tear. “No, I don’t think we’re (there) at all,” McCarthy said. Cobb will get further tests today to determine the extent of his injury.
- X-rays on the knee of Jets rookie defensive lineman Leonard Williams came back negative, per Manish Mehta of The New York Daily News (via Twitter). Mehta adds that the team believes Williams sustained a bone bruise, though he will get an MRI today to confirm.
- Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle reports that Texans Pro Bowl offensive tackle Duane Brown, who is dealing with a finger injury, does not intend to have surgery on the finger and is on track for the regular season opener against Kansas City.
- Colts DT Arthur Jones suffered an ankle injury last night, but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that X-Rays on the ankle were negative. Jones will undergo an MRI today to determine the severity of the injury.
- Although the Rams expect to have plenty of running back depth at some point this season, their Week 1 backfield could be a bit thin. We already knew that promising rookie Todd Gurley was not expected to play in the opener after he sustained a torn ACL last November, and per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter), Tre Mason suffered a strained hamstring last night, calling his Week 1 availability into doubt.
Jets Cut 12 Players
In addition to T.J. Graham and James Brewer, whose releases we learned about this morning, the Jets have cut 10 other players, per Manish Mehta of The New York Daily News (via Twitter):
- CB Javier Arenas
- CB Curtis Brown
- C Dalton Freeman
- WR Saalim Hakim
- WR Austin Hill
- LB Bryan Johnson
- TE Matt LaCosse
- CB Keith Lewis
- WR DeVier Posey
- WR Jonathon Rumph
Chiefs Cut 11 Players
We learned yesterday that the Chiefs had cut guard Marcus Reed, tight end Adam Schiltz, and cornerback Kenneth Penny. Adam Teicher of ESPN.com tweets that the team has also cut the following eight players, bringing their roster down to 79. Kansas City must be down to 75 players by Tuesday afternoon:
- WR Kenny Cook
- T Anthony Dima
- LS Andrew East
- CB Aaron Hester
- DE Vaughn Martin
- WR Jeret Smith
- OL Charles Tuaau
- WR L’Damian Washington
As Teicher adds in a separate tweet, East’s release indicates that the team has settled (for now, at least) on James Winchester as its long snapper. Winchester has never served as a long snapper in a regular season game.
Latest On Washington’s QB Dilemma
Kirk Cousins got the surprise start in last night’s preseason game against Baltimore after Robert Griffin III, the presumptive starter heading into the season, was deemed medically unready to play by an independent neurologist. In a series of tweets, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports passes on a few notes on the matter from Washington head coach Jay Gruden.
First, Gruden noted that the team had originally received a verbal report from an independent doctor that Griffin was cleared to play, and then it received an email report that contradicted the verbal and that compelled the club to make a sudden change within a 24-hour window. Also, despite an earlier report that Washington had already determined Cousins would be the Week 1 starter, Gruden stated that he would not announce anything until he had reviewed Griffin’s medicals. Per Mike Jones of The Washington Post (via Twitter), Griffin will receive further tests on Friday, and Jones added in a separate tweet that Gruden, GM Scot McCloughan, team president Bruce Allen, and owner Dan Snyder would have a “long talk” at some point in the near future to finalize Washington’s plans under center.
But even though Gruden would not announce a Week 1 starter last night, the fact that he would not commit to starting Griffin even if RGIII has been cleared to return is significant in and of itself, writes Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com. John Keim of ESPN.com agrees, pointing out that Cousins was far from perfect in last night’s game, but that he did more than enough to reignite the quarterback controversy in Washington.
It looks like we won’t have a formal announcement until sometime next week at the earliest, but at the moment, Cousins seems to have the inside track on the starting job for Week 1. What happens beyond that is anyone’s guess.