Cardinals Release QB Colt McCoy; Kyler Murray To Begin Season On PUP List
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Cardinals QB Kyler Murray will begin 2023 on the reserve/PUP list, which will require him to miss at least the first four games of the season. The bigger surprise is that Colt McCoy, who spent the past two seasons as Murray’s backup in Arizona, has been released, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
Murray, of course, is the club’s franchise passer, and he signed a massive contract extension last July. But he suffered an ACL tear and a torn meniscus late in the 2022 season, and while there was some initial optimism that he would be cleared for Week 1 of the upcoming campaign, it had become increasingly apparent that would not be the case. As Arizona is clearly in rebuild mode — and perhaps in line for the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 draft — it simply does not make sense for the team to rush Murray back onto the field.
Even after the recent trade that brought Josh Dobbs to the desert, the expectation was that McCoy would open the season as the Cardinals’ starting signal-caller, with Dobbs serving as his backup and fifth-round rookie Clayton Tune as the third-stringer. On the other hand, new Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing worked as the Browns’ quarterbacks coach in 2022, when Dobbs was on the Cleveland roster, so there is some familiarity there. Additionally, McCoy’s 2022 season was cut short due to a concussion, and he spent time on IR with a calf injury prior to that. An elbow problem sidelined McCoy at the outset of this year’s offseason program.
The McCoy release creates $1.5MM of cap space for the Cardinals while leaving the club with a dead money charge of $3.5MM, as Mike Jurecki of Arizona Football Daily observes. As such, it seems clear that the move was not financially motivated and was instead designed to give younger players who might have longer futures with the team more of an opportunity.
McCoy, who will turn 37 next month, contemplated retirement this offseason. It is now fair to wonder if he will hang up the cleats or search for another opportunity to extend his playing career. The Texas product has started 36 games in the NFL, and though his 11-25 record as a starter is obviously uninspiring, he has had stretches of quality play. In 2021, for instance, he started three games in relief of an injured Murray and went 2-1 while completing 74.7% of his passes for three TDs against one interception.
Titans Activate OL Dillon Radunz
The Titans have activated offensive lineman Dillon Radunz from the PUP list, the team announced. That means that Radunz has passed a physical, which is rather a significant development for a player that tore his ACL a little over eight months ago.
Nonetheless, head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters, including Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com, that recent acquisition Chris Hubbard remains in line to start the year at right tackle (Nicholas Petit-Frere was initially ticketed for that role, but his six-game gambling suspension will require at least a temporary change of plans). Radunz, who was selected in the second round of the 2021 draft with the expectation that he would serve as a long-term OT, presumably would have been the top choice to fill in for Petit-Frere if not for his injury.
Radunz, 25, started just one game in his rookie campaign as he learned and developed behind former right tackle David Quessenberry. Although Quessenberry signed with the Bills in the 2022 offseason, Tennessee picked Petit-Frere in the third-round of that year’s draft, and he ultimately beat out Radunz for the RT post. Radunz was therefore relegated to a reserve role, and while he did end up starting four games last season — splitting his time just about equally between left guard and right guard — he received an abysmal 40.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus (though to be fair, he did earn a terrific 78.1 pass-blocking mark).
Vrabel made it clear that Radunz would be eased back into action. Eventually, the North Dakota State product may have a chance to once again vie for the right tackle job, or perhaps for the right guard spot that still appears unsettled, but that will not happen right away.
Caleb Williams Not Certain To Enter 2024 NFL Draft?
The 2023 college football season is underway, and USC quarterback Caleb Williams led his team to a resounding victory over San Jose State in the first game of the campaign by completing 18 of 25 passes for 278 yards and four TDs. Williams, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner who has drawn favorable comparisons to quarterbacks like Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, and Trevor Lawrence, is off to a hot start.
Assuming that he continues to perform at a high level and does not suffer a major injury, there is every reason to believe that Williams will be the first player selected in next year’s NFL draft (or at least the first QB). Indeed, as ESPN’s Pete Thamel writes, Williams’ father, Carl, asked schools when his son was being recruited how those schools planned to help Caleb on the path to becoming the NFL’s No. 1 overall pick in 2024.
However, Williams is still leaving his options open, and he suggested that he could remain with the Trojans for what would be his senior season next year.
“That’s for sure now going to be an in-the-moment decision at the end of the year,” Williams said. “It’s my third year, and the dream and goal was to go three-and-out (to turn pro after three seasons in college). Being around these guys and in college and enjoying it, we’ll have to see at the end of this year.”
On the one hand, it’s not surprising for a player in Williams’ situation to be non-committal, even if he has every intention of entering the draft as soon as he is eligible to do so. After all, there is still a long way to go between now and the time when he must declare for the draft, and it stands to reason that his focus is currently on helping USC win football games (which will only help his draft stock). But ESPN’s Matt Miller has heard that if the team that would be most likely to select Williams is not a team that Williams wants to play for, the talented passer could forego the draft and try again in 2025.
Obviously, that would be an exceedingly risky strategy that could backfire in a big way. If Miller’s sources are accurate, it could also create a scenario like the one that unfolded in 2004, when the Chargers held the No. 1 overall pick and hoped to make Eli Manning their long-term signal-caller. Manning had made it clear, however, that he did not want to play for the San Diego franchise, so while the Chargers did draft the Ole Miss product, they quickly swung a deal with the Giants whereby Manning wound up with Big Blue and Philip Rivers landed with the Chargers, a transaction that had an indelible impact on both clubs and on the league as a whole.
Another factor at play here is the fact that collegians are now entitled to earn money through Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) ventures, and as one of the top athletes in all of college sports, Williams has taken full advantage of that. As noted in a recent article by the Sports Business Journal, Williams has built a “seven-figure portfolio” through deals with brands like Beats by Dre and PlayStation, so he may have the financial wherewithal to pass on an NFL landing spot that he considers less than ideal.
Williams spent 2021, his first college season, at Oklahoma before transferring to USC in 2022. Across those two years, he completed 469 of 711 passes (a 65.9% completion rate) for 67 TDs against just nine interceptions. He also carried the ball 192 times for 824 yards (a 4.3 YPC rate) and 16 scores.
Dolphins Release LB Malik Reed
The Dolphins have released linebacker Malik Reed, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Reed signed with the club in March.
Reed started his career in Denver, joining the Broncos as an undrafted free agent out of Nevada in 2019. In the defense installed by then-head coach Vic Fangio, Reed quickly made an impact, tallying his first sack by Week 4 of his rookie season and going on to start the next eight games. His strongest season came the following year, when he and Bradley Chubb formed a dynamic pass rushing duo that generated 15.5 sacks (Reed led the team with eight sacks, and Chubb was right behind him with 7.5).
Unfortunately, he fell off a bit in 2021, as he posted just five sacks and was regarded by Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics as the 89th-best edge defender out of 110 qualifiers. Fangio was dismissed after that season, and Reed was dealt to the Steelers almost one year ago today.
Although PFF was kinder to Reed in 2022 than it was the year prior, he produced just one sack in 14 games, and he was forced to settle for a one-year, veteran minimum contract this offseason. He was always unlikely to become a starter for Miami, but there was a chance that Reed could rekindle some of his Mile High magic working under Fangio, who was hired as the ‘Fins defensive coordinator in February. Clearly, that will not happen, and Reed will instead search for a new employer.
Another team will surely take a flier on Reed given his past production and the general need for pass rushing talent, though he could be running out of opportunities.
Patriots Cut QB Trace McSorley
The Patriots have cut quarterback Trace McSorley, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports. The former Ravens draftee signed with New England in April to compete for a third-string job behind starter Mac Jones and 2022 fourth-rounder Bailey Zappe.
McSorley threw just four passes in this year’s preseason and completed only one of them. It was clear that he did not have much of a future in Foxborough, so the most intriguing aspect of his release is that it increases the likelihood that UDFA rookie Malik Cunningham will make the roster.
Like 2019 MVP Lamar Jackson, Cunningham is a Louisville product. And like Jackson, Cunningham is a dangerous dual-threat athlete, having thrown for 70 TDs against 29 picks in his collegiate career to go along with 3,182 rushing yards (on a 5.1 yards-per-carry average) and a whopping 50 rushing TDs. He is not the passing prospect that Jackson was, however, and there were plenty of concerns about Jackson’s acumen as a passer when he entered the league.
In light of that, Cunningham has taken the bulk of his reps as a receiver and special teamer in camp. He did see a bit of action as a quarterback in the preseason, completing three of six attempts for 19 yards. As a receiver, he caught just one of nine targets, but he had six carries for 40 yards and a touchdown. He is raw in most aspects of the game, but his athleticism is highly appealing, and it may be hard to sneak him through waivers and onto the practice squad. Even if the Pats were successful in that regard, another club could poach him at any time.
Since Zappe appears capable of handling the QB2 role, it would make sense for New England to dedicate a roster spot that might otherwise be used on a more traditional third-string passer on an intriguing player with unique upside. But as Jeff Howe of The Athletic cautions, the team has not made a decision on Cunningham despite McSorley’s departure.
“Malik is a really interesting player,” head coach Bill Belichick recently said (h/t Khari Thompson of Boston.com). “The kid never played receiver before or returned kicks and he’s done both, he’s returned kickoffs and played receiver. As far as playing quarterback, we’ll see how it goes. He’s certainly got some things on his resume, and so do other players so we’ll see how it all plays out.”
Eagles DE Derek Barnett Gauging Trade Market
Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett wants more playing time. The No. 14 overall pick of the 2017 draft, who is entering a contract year, is unlikely to get the number of reps that will lead to a significant payday if he remains in Philadelphia, which houses pass-rushing talent like Brandon Graham, Josh Sweat, Haason Reddick, and first-round rookie Nolan Smith. Barnett’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is therefore gauging the trade market for a better opportunity, as ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports.
Barnett, 27, accepted a pay cut just last month that actually increased his guaranteed money for 2023 while reducing the maximum he can earn. That transaction assured him of a spot on the Eagles’ roster, and Fowler confirms that the club wants to keep him. Nonetheless, if a team that has a bigger need in the edge rush department is willing to part with a useful asset in exchange for Barnett, it makes sense for Philadelphia to pull the trigger.
Last offseason, there were rumors that Barnett, who was set to hit the open market for the first time in his career, was going to sign with a different club in free agency. However, GM Howie Roseman opted to keep him in the fold via a two-year, $14MM commitment. Unfortunately, Barnett played in just one game in 2022 due to an ACL tear, which is one of the reasons why he was forced to take a pay cut for 2023.
The Tennessee product has never quite lived up to his draft status, though he has certainly been a useful piece of the Eagles’ pass rushing rotation, with three seasons of at least five sacks to his credit. While he posted only two sacks in his last full season in 2021, the leaguewide need for edge rush help explains why Fowler believes Roseman could extract some value for Barnett.
And, as Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com points out, the fact that the Eagles have allowed Barnett to seek a trade is an indication that Smith, who has been battling a shoulder ailment, will be available for Week 1.
Colts Release WRs Breshad Perriman, James Washington
10:48am: As it turns out, the Perriman release did not spell good news for Washington. Despite being signed just 10 days ago, Washington has also been cut, as Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 reports.
10:04am: After signing him in June, the Colts kept veteran wide receiver Breshad Perriman on the roster throughout the summer and the preseason. However, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports, Indianapolis is releasing the former first-rounder.
Perriman, who will turn 30 next month, never lived up to his status as the 26th overall pick of the 2015 draft, but he has had stretches of productivity for multiple clubs in his pro career. The deep threat amassed a career-high 645 receiving yards with the Bucs in 2019 and added 505 for the ’20 Jets, and new Colts offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter was on the Jets’ staff (albeit as running backs coach) during Perriman’s season with Gang Green.
Perriman came back to Tampa for the 2021-22 seasons, though he was unable to make much of an impact with the Tom Brady-led outfit, catching 20 balls for 277 yards and two touchdowns over the past two years combined. Still, it made sense for a Colts club that has some question marks behind its top two outside-the-numbers receivers (Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce) to take a chance on an experienced player who boasts a career 16.2 yards-per-reception average and a history of usefulness.
It could be that the Colts have a handshake agreement to re-sign Perriman after players who find themselves on the initial 53-man roster are placed on IR. Or, perhaps the club simply prefers to move forward with the newly-signed James Washington and younger options like Mike Strachan.
In three preseason games this summer, Perriman caught four passes for 34 yards.
Bears Waive DT Bravvion Roy
The Bears are waiving defensive tackle Bravvion Roy, per Cameron Wolfe of the NFL Network. Chicago claimed Roy off waivers from the Panthers earlier this month.
The Bears did a great deal of work on their defensive front this offseason, signing DT Andrew Billings and hybrid defensive lineman DeMarcus Walker in free agency and selecting Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens on Day 2 of the 2023 draft. As such, there was not a ton of room, barring injury or underpeformance, for Roy in Chicago. However, the Bears, who presently hold the top waiver priority, were willing to give the Baylor product a chance to impress in a new environment.
Now 26, Roy flashed considerable pass-rushing potential in his final collegiate season, with 5.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss. Matt Rhule, who coached Roy in Waco before becoming the head coach of the Panthers in 2020, added his former pupil in the sixth round of the 2020 draft. Unfortunately, Roy’s production did not translate to the professional ranks.
Roy recorded only one sack and three TFLs across 45 games in Carolina, where he primarily played in a rotational capacity. He started nine games as a rookie but only six contests after that, and his snap share in 2021 and ’22 (31% and 34%, respectively) was noticeably lower than his debut campaign. A hamstring injury led to an IR stint last season and limited him to 13 games. Pro Football Focus considered him the 86th-best defender out of 127 qualifiers in 2022, which actually represented the highest PFF ranking of his three-year career.
Roy appeared in all three of Chicago’s preseason games, recording two total tackles.
Buccaneers Name Christian Izien Starting Nickel Corner
As Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times notes, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles expects to have more rookies and undrafted free agents on his 2023 squad than he has ever had on one of his teams. Given that the Bucs lead the league in dead money, they naturally have to fill out their roster with modest contracts, and players who may not have gotten a chance elsewhere will have an opportunity to make a name for themselves in Tampa.
One such player is Christian Izien, whom Bowles named as the club’s starting nickel corner (via Stroud). Izien, a UDFA from Rutgers who signed with the Bucs in May, immediately impressed the team’s coaching staff with his speed and athleticism, traits that Bowles wants to inject into his defense this year.
As Scott Smith of the team’s official website details, Izien played safety during his first three collegiate seasons and moved to the slot in his redshirt senior year. With Ryan Neal and Antoine Winfield Jr. set to occupy the Bucs’ starting safety positions, Tampa Bay always had the slot cornerback role in mind for Izien, who saw action in the club’s first and third preseason games.
In the preseason finale against the Ravens, Izien chased down Baltimore quarterback Anthony Brown, who had broken off a long run into the Tampa Bay redzone, and punched out the ball from behind. The Bucs recovered the fumble, and Izien seemingly cemented himself as the starting nickel.
While Izien was occasionally beaten in coverage during his preseason audition, the Bucs hope that his explosiveness will compensate for whatever struggles he has in that regard as he adjusts to professional offenses. The fact that he is surrounded by veterans in the secondary, including Neal and Winfield at safety and Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean on the boundaries, will certainly help.
Izien beat out veteran Dee Delaney and rookie sixth-rounder Josh Hayes for the job.
Texans Name C.J. Stroud Starting QB
The Texans have officially named C.J. Stroud their starting quarterback. Head coach DeMeco Ryans made the announcement following Houston’s preseason finale against the Saints last night.
The anointment of Stroud was largely a foregone conclusion ever since the Texans made him the No. 2 overall pick of this year’s draft. While the other two clubs that selected QBs in the first round of the draft, the Panthers and Colts, announced their rookie passers as their starting signal-callers some time ago, Ryans clearly wanted to wait until the end of the preseason slate and create some semblance of competition between Stroud and incumbent Davis Mills.
Mills, a 2021 third-rounder, showed some promise in his rookie season but regressed in a big way last year, posting a poor 78.8 quarterback rating and leading the league in interceptions (15). Although the Texans generally suffered from a lack of talent across the roster, it became increasingly clear that Mills was not going to be the team’s franchise QB.
As has been discussed a great deal, Mills threw a touchdown pass to Texans TE Jordan Akins on a fourth-and-20 play in the waning moments of the last game of the 2022 regular season. Mills then hit Akins for a two-point conversion, which gave Houston a 32-31 win over the Colts in what was a meaningless bout for both teams from a postseason perspective. However, the victory dropped the Texans from the No. 1 spot in the draft to No. 2, thereby taking them out of contention for Bryce Young, the quarterback that they reportedly preferred. Young was ultimately selected by the Panthers, who engineered a trade-up with the Bears to acquire him.
After Young came off the board, there was plenty of chatter that Houston would take the top defender in the draft with the No. 2 pick and wait until it was back on the clock with the No. 12 overall selection to take a quarterback, if it took one at all in the first round. By that time, Stroud likely would have been long gone.
As it turned out, of course, the Texans did take Stroud, and then they executed their own trade-up from the No. 12 spot to No. 3 to select Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. So they were able to land their preferred defender and their second-favorite quarterback, and we will soon begin to find out whether the dominos that began to fall with the fateful Mills-Akins touchdown connection will push Houston into a new era of competitiveness.
Stroud spent three years at Ohio State, serving as the starter for the past two seasons. He put together a highly productive campaign in 2021 with 4,435 passing yards and 44 touchdown throws coupled with a 72% completion percentage. After wideouts Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave departed for the NFL, Stroud’s 2022 stats regressed a bit, but he still performed well enough to become a Heisman finalist and cement his status as one of the top passers in the 2023 class.
In his first preseason game against the Patriots, Stroud struggled against New England’s pass rush. He completed two of four passes for 13 yards, threw an interception, and took a 15-yard sack. He showed some improvement in the second preseason contest against the Dolphins, completing seven of 12 passes for 60 yards, and in last night’s finale against New Orleans, he completed two of four throws, including the first TD pass of his career.
“I thought [Stroud] did a really good job tonight, and continued to progress,” Ryans said (h/t Grant Gordon of NFL.com). “Had a good week last week against Miami, and to come back out this week, the ball placement was very nice.”
As Stroud is known more for his pocket presence than his athletic abilities, the ball placement that Ryans referenced and general polish as a passer is what the young QB will need to be successful at the professional level.
“I’m still going to work like the way I’ve been working, even more now,” Stroud said. “I’m blessed to be a starter so young in this league, which isn’t the easiest thing to do, but I know my coaches have faith and trust in me, and I’ll go out there and try to do my best.”
Stroud’s regular season debut will come against the Ravens in Baltimore on September 10.