49ers To Work Out Multiple Kickers
The 49ers do not know who their placekicker will be when they open the regular season against the Steelers on September 10, as ESPN’s Nick Wagoner details. The club did not make an effort to re-sign longtime kicker Robbie Gould this offseason but did acquire veteran Zane Gonzalez via trade and selected Jake Moody in the third round of the 2023 draft (thereby making Moody just the second kicker in the past 15 years to be taken within the draft’s top 100 picks).
Unfortunately, Gonzalez and Moody have both sustained injuries that threaten their Week 1 availability. Given the draft capital the team invested into him, Moody has been viewed as the presumptive starter, and he has performed well in practice, converting most of his field goal attempts (including multiple attempts from over 60 yards). He has struggled in preseason action, however, missing two FG attempts against the Raiders — though one was a 58-yard try — and an extra point against the Broncos.
Wagoner writes that Moody left Wednesday’s practice early, and the Michigan product is considered week-to-week with a right quadriceps injury. In light of Moody’s ailment, it appeared as if Gonzalez would have a chance to make a case for himself in San Francisco’s preseason finale against the Chargers on Friday, but he suffered a strained calf that kept him out of the game. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said that Gonzalez’s injury will cost him multiple weeks, and given that he was facing an uphill battle to make the club anyway, it seems he is not long for the 49ers’ roster.
The Niners obviously need to make at least a short-term addition, and Shanahan said the team will work out multiple kickers this week. Gould, 40, recently said that he has spoken with several teams and is remaining patient as he looks for the right fit. It is unclear whether he would entertain a reunion with San Francisco given the presence of Moody, though Shanahan would not rule it out.
“We’re discussing everything and just being ready for any possibility to maneuver this roster however, but we really don’t know what direction we’re gonna go until time takes care of that,” Shanahan said.
Colts C Danny Pinter Out For Season
Colts center Danny Pinter suffered a broken left ankle during the team’s preseason win over the Eagles on Thursday, as Mike Chappell of Fox 59 writes. Pinter has been placed on injured reserve, and his season is over.
Pinter, a 2020 fifth-round choice, has appeared in 46 games (seven starts) in his first three professional seasons. He opened the 2022 campaign as Indianapolis’ starting right guard but was benched for poor performance after just three games. He handled the bulk of the snaps at center in relief of an injured Ryan Kelly in the Colts’ Week 5 win over the Broncos, was relegated to reserve duty when Kelly returned the following week, and scarcely saw any action the rest of the way.
This season, Pinter was penciled in as Kelly’s primary backup at the pivot. Pinter started three games at the position in 2021 and received a strong 78.4 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus for his work, though his subpar 46.0 pass-blocking mark left much to be desired. The Colts did, however, win all three of those contests, and the club values Pinter’s ability to line up at multiple positions along the O-line.
“Danny is a really good player for us,” head coach Shane Steichen said. “To lose a guy like him is very unfortunate for us.”
2022 UDFA Wesley French and 2023 waiver claim Dakoda Shepley are the top internal options to fill the backup center role. However, French has yet to take a regular season snap in the NFL, and Shepley’s only non-special teams action came with the Cowboys last year, when he took eight snaps at center and six at right guard.
Steichen did not commit to either player at this point, saying, “[we’re] working through all of that right now. There are a couple of guys we’re looking at.”
It is possible that the Colts look for external reinforcements with cutdown day looming, especially since they will be starting rookie Anthony Richardson at quarterback.
Eagles LB Myles Jack To Retire
Eagles linebacker Myles Jack plans to retire, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter). Jack just signed with Philadelphia two weeks ago.
A first-round talent that fell to the second round of the 2016 draft due to knee concerns, Jack was selected by the Jaguars and quickly established himself as a fixture on quality Jacksonville defenses that featured other notable performers like Jalen Ramsey, Yannick Ngakoue, and Calais Campbell. Like Jack, Ramsey and Ngakoue were also 2016 draftees.
In his second professional campaign, Jack started all 16 regular season contests for the Jags and all three of their playoff games, helping the team come heartwrenchingly close to a Super Bowl appearance. He finished the year with 90 total tackles and a strong 71.7 overall grade from Pro Football Focus.
The following year, Jack cracked 100 tackles for the first time in his career and was again considered a solid overall performer by PFF’s metrics. However, the 2018 season was not as successful for the Jaguars as a whole, as the team finished 5-11 and well outside the playoff picture. After that season was over, Jack, Ramsey, and Ngakoue became extension-eligible for the first time, though Jack was the only member of that talented trio to see a second contract with Jacksonville.
In August 2019, Jack inked a four-year, $57MM extension to stay in Duval, though the 2019 season was a forgettable one for player and team alike. For the first time as a pro, Jack missed game action due to injury, as he was shelved for the final five contests of the regular season slate. He received an abysmal 45.9 overall grade from PFF, and the Jags finished in last place in the AFC South for the second straight year.
In terms of both surface-level stats and the advanced metrics, Jack had a bounceback effort in 2020, as he posted 118 tackles, five passes defensed, a sack, and an inteception. Unfortunately, the club finished with a 1-15 record, and after a similarly disappointing showing in 2021 under Urban Meyer‘s brief and disastrous stewardship, Jack was released.
He quickly caught on with the Steelers and recorded over 100 tackles for the third consecutive season, but those tackle numbers were not indicative of his overall effectiveness. Pittsburgh made him a cap casualty in May as part of its overhaul at the linebacker position.
Jack and fellow veteran linebacker Zach Cunningham signed with the Eagles on August 6, and both seemingly had an opportunity to see significant snaps alongside Nakobe Dean (particularly with Shaun Bradley out for the season). But as Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer observed just yesterday, Cunningham was more impressive than Jack, who had not seen much action with the first-stringers.
Days away from his 28th birthday, Jack will hang up his cleats with over $50MM in career earnings. We at PFR congratulate the former UCLA standout on a fine career and wish him well in the next chapter of his life.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/20/23
Here are today’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Waived from IR with injury settlement: CB Jordan Swann
Detroit Lions
- Signed: S Scott Nelson
- Waived/injured: RB Mohamed Ibrahim
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: LS Tucker Addington
- Released: LS Carson Tinker
Philadelphia Eagles
- Reverted to IR: WR Tyrie Cleveland, DT Noah Elliss, CB Zech McPhearson
- Placed on reserve/retired list: LB Myles Jack (story)
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: DE DaMarcus Mitchell
- Waived: DE Jordan Ferguson
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Claimed off waivers (from Giants): CB Rodarius Williams
- Placed on IR: WR Russell Gage (story)
Tennessee Titans
- Waived: S A.J. Moore
Washington Commanders
- Signed: DT Isaiah Mack, P Michael Palardy
- Released: K Michael Badgley (story)
- Waived: WR Jalen Sample
It appears that, like Colby Wadman before him, Palardy is just a camp body. Incumbent punter Tress Way is dealing with a back ailment, and he will only work as the holder in the Commanders’ preseason contest against the Ravens tomorrow night (Twitter link via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post). So Palardy, who has appeared in 80 games in his career (including eight with the Patriots in 2022), will have a chance to audition for other clubs that may be on the lookout for a punter at some point.
Washington is also in need of another player to rotate in on the defensive line, as Jonathan Allen (plantar fasciitis) and Phidarian Mathis are both banged up (Twitter link via ESPN’s John Keim). Mack, who has 25 appearances in his pro career, will at least help the team get through camp and the rest of the preseason slate.
Cowboys LB DeMarvion Overshown Suffers Torn ACL
3:10pm: Gehlken reports that Overshown has indeed torn his ACL (Twitter link). The news confirms the worst-case scenario, and that he will miss his entire rookie campaign. Overshown will now turn his attention to rehab ahead of an attempt to replicate his impressive showings next offseason, while the Cowboys may now find themselves on the market for a depth LB addition in the near future. Undrafted rookie tight end John Stephens also tore his ACL last night, per Gehlken.
8:28am: The Cowboys fear that third-round rookie linebacker DeMarvion Overshown tore his ACL during last night’s preseason loss to the Seahawks, per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The club will know the full extent of the damage after an MRI.
Overshown suffered the injury while making an open-field tackle of Seattle running back Zach Charbonnet during the first quarter of the game. An ACL tear, of course, would force him to miss the entirety of his first professional season, which would be an especially difficult blow given that he appeared ticketed for a significant role right out of the gate.
On paper, Dallas’ linebacking corps is the weakest part of its defense, so there was plenty of opportunity for Overshown to establish himself as at least a key rotational player and special teams contributor. He had put together an impressive training camp and was seen as an ascending talent.
“He was climbing. He was climbing the charts,” head coach Mike McCarthy said of Overshown after the game (Twitter link via Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram). “He showed up right away in the offseason program, just his ability to fly around. Really has excellent command. So just hopeful. See how tomorrow goes.”
Leighton Vander Esch, who re-upped with the Cowboys on a two-year, $11MM contract in March, will likely operate as Dallas’ starter at middle linebacker (despite some recent run as an edge defender). Lining up next to him will be recent Day 3 draft choices Damone Clark (fifth round, 2022), Devin Harper (sixth round, 2022), and Jabril Cox (fourth round, 2021), all of whom will see an uptick in playing time if Overshown is indeed out for the year.
“You never want to see any of your guys get hurt, that’s what’s so tough about these preseason games,” McCarthy added (via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News). “We had a couple of young guys go down, you say your prayers and hopefully the imaging points in the right direction. He’s had an incredible camp, we’ve talked about him almost every other day. I just hope he’s OK.”
Overshown, a Texas product, received First Team All-Big 12 acclaim following his final season with the Longhorns, a season in which he compiled 96 tackles (10 TFL), four sacks, and five passes defensed.
Latest On Lions’ RG Competition
The Lions’ offensive line was a key to their suprising success in 2022, and the club will return four-fifths of its starting front from last season. The only OL spot up for grabs is at right guard, and the battle between Graham Glasgow and Halapoulivaati Vaitai for that job is a close one.
Per Justin Rogers of the Detroit News, Vaitai entered training camp as the betting favorite for the post, which he manned from 2020-21 after signing a lucrative free agent contract with the Lions in March 2020. He struggled a bit in his first season in the Motor City, a campaign that was tainted to some degree by injury, but he rebounded with a strong 15-game performance in 2021. Unfortunately, he was forced to undergo back surgery last September, which caused him to miss the entire 2022 slate and to even consider retirement.
While Vaitai elected to resume his playing career, he did have to take a pay cut to remain on the roster. Meanwhile, Detroit reunited with Glasgow and allowed Evan Brown, who served as Vaitai’s primary replacement last year, to depart in free agency. Glasgow, a former third-round pick of the Lions, spent the last three seasons with the Broncos, and he will provide experienced insurance at both guard positions and at center in the event he does not win the right guard gig.
As Rogers notes, Vaitai was absent for a brief time in this year’s camp due to injury, and since then, he and Glasgow have largely split first-team reps at RG. Glasgow’s efforts in this positional battle have been compromised a bit by the fact that he has to step in for starting pivot Frank Ragnow whenever Ragnow needs time off, but he believes he has acquitted himself well just the same.
“I was saying earlier, I think if you can play center, you can play guard,” he said. “I would like to get more guard reps, but at the end of the day, it’s just the price of doing business.”
Both players have plenty of financial motivation. After being released by Denver three years into a four-year, $44MM contract, Glasgow is due just $1.5MM in base pay on his one-year pact this season (though he can earn up to $4.5MM). And Vaitai, as part of the above-referenced pay cut, agreed to remove the 2024 season from his contract, which means he, like Glasgow, will be eligible for free agency next year.
Commanders Release K Michael Badgley
The Commanders’ kicking competition is over. Washington is releasing K Michael Badgley, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network tweets, which means that Joey Slye will remain the team’s placekicker.
After two disappointing seasons with the Panthers from 2019-20 that saw him post a poor 79.4% success rate on field goal tries, Slye had three-game cameos with the Texans and 49ers in 2021 before winding up in the nation’s capital for the second half of that season. His performance (12/12 on field goal attempts, 9/10 on extra point attempts) earned him a two-year contract last April.
Unfortunately, the 2022 campaign was not as successful, as Slye hit on just 83.3% of his FG attempts and missed four of his 28 PATs. Badgley, meanwhile, also had an 83.3% FG conversion rate in 12 games with the Lions last season, though he made all 33 of his PATs. Detroit re-signed him in March, and while it appeared as if he was the frontrunner in the club’s kicking battle, he was released last month. He quickly caught on with the Commanders but will have to search for another new home.
Now 28, Badgley has been unable to replicate the success he enjoyed during his 2018 rookie season with the Chargers. His 93.8% success rate on field goals and 96.4% success rate on PATs that year earned him his “Money Badger” nickname and appeared to solidify him as a fixture on the Bolts’ special teams unit for the foreseeable future. However, he appeared in just eight games in 2019 due to injury, and he endured an awful 2020, converting 72.7% of his field goal tries and missing several crucial kicks. The Chargers cut him prior to the 2021 season, and he bounced around to the Titans, Colts, Bears, and Lions over the next two years.
Washington has played one preseason game this summer, a 17-15 victory over the Browns. In that contest, Slye hit his lone FG attempt, a 49-yarder, and his only extra point try. Badgley also converted his one extra point attempt and did not get a shot at a field goal. As ESPN’s John Keim tweets, Slye and Badgley performed similarly in training camp with respect to their field goal and PAT work, but Slye had the clear advantage in terms of kickoffs.
Eagles LB Shaun Bradley Done For Season
Eagles linebacker Shaun Bradley suffered a season-ending injury in last night’s preseason loss to the Ravens, as Bradley himself noted on Instagram (h/t Zach Berman of The Athletic on Twitter). Per EJ Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bradley sustained an Achilles tear while handling punt-blocking duties.
Bradley, a sixth-round pick in 2020, has primarily worked as a special-teamer during his tenure with the Eagles, and in fact saw no defensive snaps in 2022 after at least getting a cameo at linebacker during his first two professional seasons. However, his abilities in the third phase would have guaranteed him a roster spot in 2023.
The Temple product appeared in 80% of Philadelphia’s ST snaps last season, and most of his 45 career tackles have come on special teams. In the wake of the offseason departures of T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White, Bradley was also getting LB reps in this year’s training camp, as Smith tweets. However, the recent additions of veterans Myles Jack and Zach Cunningham may have again relegated Bradley exclusively to an ST role.
Still, the Eagles will feel Bradley’s absence, and it is a particularly brutal blow for the player, who is eligible for free agency next year.
“Not how I wanted the season to end for me, but I believe that God truly does give his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers,” Bradley wrote on his Instagram post. “I’ve been beating the odds my entire life, I’m not even supposed to be here. Just another chapter in my story. I will be back better than I ever was. I can promise that.”
Bills Have “Open Competition” For QB2 Role
The Bills have an open competition for the backup quarterback job behind Josh Allen, as head coach Sean McDermott confirmed after the team’s first preseason contest yesterday (Twitter link via ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg). Matt Barkley, who remained with Buffalo via a reserve/futures deal he signed in January, will battle free agent signee Kyle Allen for the QB2 gig.
Kyle Allen, 27, spent the 2022 season with the Texans and has also seen action with the Panthers and Commanders. Last year, he started two games in relief of the struggling Davis Mills and did not perform particularly well, completing 59% of his passes for two TDs against four interceptions (Houston lost both contests). In his pro career, Kyle Allen has a 7-12 record as a starter to go along with an 82.2 quarterback rating.
Barkley, who will turn 33 next month, has just seven career starts to his name, the last of which came in 2018. He spent the 2018-20 seasons with the Bills and saw some action as a fill-in for Josh Allen during that time, and after stints on the Titans’ and Panthers’ taxi squads in 2021, he rejoined Buffalo last March. However, Case Keenum operated as Josh Allen’s backup in 2022, and Barkley spent the year on the Bills’ p-squad.
Kyle Allen got the starting nod in yesterday’s 23-19 victory over the Colts and largely struggled, completing eight of 15 passes for 122 yards and an interception. Statistically, Barkley had the superior outing, as he completed 14 of 15 attempts for 172 yards and two TDs, though it should be noted that his efforts came against Indianapolis’ third-stringers. While acknowledging that Barkley may have gained a slight advantage over Kyle Allen, Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic notes that Barkley did not have much zip on his throws and would not have been as successful against better defenders (subscription required).
Interestingly, Buscaglia believes the player who will ultimately serve as Josh Allen’s clipboard holder may not be on the roster yet. After Kyle Allen’s unimpressive camp and underwhelming preseason performance, and given the lack of speed on Barkley’s passes, GM Brandon Beane may seek a more compelling option to hold the fort in the event of a Josh Allen injury in 2023. Buscaglia names the 49ers’ Sam Darnold as a possible trade target.
There are, of course, other position battles worth monitoring in western New York. Per Buscaglia, Tyrel Dodson appears to be the favorite to win the starting inside linebacker job next to Matt Milano in the wake of Tremaine Edmunds‘ free agent defection to Chicago. Dodson’s primary competition, Terrel Bernard, suffered a hamstring injury in practice last week and did not play against the Colts. And, although second-year pro Baylon Spector got first-team reps in one practice at the end of July, he has not seen another opporunity with the top unit since then. He worked exclusively with the third-string defense in the preseason opener.
Meanwhile, rookie right guard O’Cyrus Torrence played the entire first half against Indianapolis, though Buscaglia suspects incumbent Ryan Bates will get his chance with the first team when the Bills take on the Steelers in their second preseason contest. Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey recently dubbed the competition between Torrence and Bates “really close” (h/t NFL.com), and it appears the battle remains too close to call.
Texans Sign QB E.J. Perry, WRs Victor Bolden And Adam Humphries
The Texans have made a series of additions to their roster. The club is signing quarterback E.J. Perry along with wide receivers Victor Bolden and Adam Humphries, as Aaron Wilson of Click2Houston.com reports in separate pieces.
Of course, the No. 2 overall pick of this year’s draft, C.J. Stroud, is set to open the season as Houston’s starting quarterback. The Texans are also rostering 2021 third-rounder Davis Mills and established veteran Case Keenum, so unless there is an injury to one of the three passers ahead of him on the depth chart, Perry appears to be in line for, at best, a spot on the practice squad.
After a strong collegiate career that culminated in his earning MVP honors for his performance in the 2022 East-West Shrine Game, Perry initially agreed to sign with the Eagles as an undrafted free agent last year. When it became clear that Philadelphia planned to add fellow quarterback Carson Strong to the roster, Perry pivoted to the Jaguars. He ultimately spent the season on Jacksonville’s taxi squad, and after signing a reserve/futures deal in January, he was waived in March. Houston subsequently claimed him but sent him back to the waiver wire in May.
After being cut by the Texans, Perry signed with the USFL’s Michigan Panthers towards the end of that league’s regular season. He appeared in two games with the club, including an overtime postseason loss in which he completed 23 of 38 passes for two touchdowns and an interception. The dual-threat player added seven carries for 22 yards and a score. As Wilson reports, the Panthers released him from his USFL contract so he could explore another NFL opportunity.
Bolden, now 28, signed with the 49ers as an undrafted free agent way back in 2017 and returned 19 kicks (20.8 yards per return) and four punts (5.8 yards per return) for the club that year. He was suspended for the first four games of the 2018 season due to a PED violation and ended the campaign as a member of the Bills, for whom he returned five kickoffs. His last game with Buffalo in December 2018 is also the last time he saw regular season action for an NFL club, though he would spend time on the practice squads of the Lions, Cardinals, and Broncos in subsequent years.
Bolden’s efforts as a member of the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions in 2022, which included Wide Receiver and Special Team All-USFL Team acclaim and MVP honors in the 2022 USFL Championship Game, have kept him on the NFL radar. The diminutive speedster has just one NFL catch to his credit but will attempt to crack the back end of Houston’s WR depth chart, which is topped by Nico Collins, John Metchie, and Robert Woods, and which also includes free agent pickup Noah Brown and 2023 draftees Tank Dell and Xavier Hutchinson.
Humphries, 30, has plenty of NFL experience, and from 2018-20, he averaged 64 catches and just under 700 receiving yards per season as a key member of the Bucs’ receiving corps. His last professional action came as a member of the Washington Football Team in 2021, as he was unable to land a contract last season despite working out for the 49ers and Giants.
In corresponding moves, the Texans released cornerback Kendall Sheffield and UDFA running back Xazavian Valladay, who was given a $175K guarantee to sign with Houston.