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.
Commanders To Sign TE Kaden Smith
The Commanders are signing tight end Kaden Smith, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). Smith signed with the Colts in May but was waived earlier this month.
As ESPN’s John Keim tweets, Washington’s TE1, Logan Thomas, is currently nursing a calf injury. As such, Smith will at least give the club an extra body at the position for the time being, and given his past experience with the divison-rival Giants, he may have a legitimate shot to stick on the roster.
A sixth-round pick of the 49ers in 2019, Smith was waived by San Francisco one week into his rookie season and was claimed by the Giants. From 2019-21, the Stanford product was a regular presence in New York’s offensive lineup, appearing in 33 games (22 starts) as the blocking complement to receiving tight end Evan Engram. Smith also showed some receiving abilities of his own, catching 31 balls for 268 yards and three TDs during Engram’s injury-related absence in the second half of the 2019 campaign.
Unfortunately, a knee injury suffered in November 2021 derailed Smith’s career, and there was concern that he would not be able to play again. After missing all of 2022, the 26-year-old is healthy enough, though he could not carve out a spot in a crowded TE room in Indianapolis. He will hope for better luck with the Commanders, who are rostering two recent mid-round draft choices in John Bates and Cole Turner in addition to Thomas.
Like Smith, Bates is known more for his blocking prowess. While Bates did flash some promise as a pass catcher in his rookie season in 2021 (20 receptions for 249 yards and a score), Turner, a 2022 fifth-rounder, is the more exciting receiving prospect. Thomas, meanwhile, played in just six games in 2021 due to injury and was unable to recapture his pre-injury form last year, so the fact that he is now battling a calf ailment is certainly cause for concern.
In the TE-friendly scheme of new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, there is perhaps room for all four of Thomas, Bates, Turner, and Smith, especially in light of Thomas’ health concerns and the fact that Bates and Turner are largely unproven commodities.
The Commanders cut punter Colby Wadman in a corresponding transaction, as Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post tweets.
Falcons To Sign LB Frank Ginda
The Falcons have agreed to sign linebacker Frank Ginda, per Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link). Ginda played for the USFL’s Michigan Panthers in each of the rebooted league’s first two seasons, and he took home Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2023.
Now 26, Ginda is no stranger to the NFL. The former San Jose State standout signed with the Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2018 and went through OTAs with the club before being waived. He spent the rest of that summer with the Dolphins and ultimately wound up on Miami’s taxi squad, though he never appeared in a regular season contest.
Ginda, who has also spent time in the AAF and XFL, signed with the Saints in May 2019. New Orleans waived him as part of its final roster cuts that year.
While the Falcons’ two starting inside linebacker spots will be occupied by free agent acquisition Kaden Elliss and 2022 second-rounder Troy Andersen, it seems as if Ginda has a chance to finally carve out a spot for himself on a Week 1 NFL roster. Mykal Walker, a 2020 fourth-round selection, was displaced as a starter by Andersen late last season and appears ticketed for more of a rotational role in 2023. Walker’s spot on the depth chart is likely secure nonetheless, but Ginda could push players like Tae Davis and 2022 UDFA Nathan Landman for playing time.
In what he surely hopes was his final USFL season, Ginda posted a league-leading 104 tackles along with three interceptions and a sack. He has produced prolific tackle totals at both the collegiate and professional levels, and that acumen may at least earn him an extended look as a rotational defender and special teams contributor in Atlanta.
The Seahawks were also interested in Ginda and recently brought him in for a workout, as Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweets.
Saints LG Andrus Peat In Danger Of Losing Starting Job?
Saints left guard Andrus Peat has dealt with a litany of injuries in his career, and he has averaged just ten games per season over the last four years. The 29-year-old has already suffered a quadriceps injury in this year’s training camp that has caused him to miss time, and Rod Walker of NOLA.com believes Peat may no longer be in line for a starting role.
James Hurst, who is capable of playing both guard and tackle, received first-team reps at left guard in Peat’s absence, and Walker says it would not surprise if Hurst gets the nod at LG when the regular season begins. Hurst operated as New Orleans’ primary left tackle in 2022, but with Trevor Penning set to take over that post after an injury-riddled rookie campaign, Hurst will move to a reserve role or to a different position on the O-line.
Peat, whom the Saints selected in the first round of the 2015 draft, also saw action at multiple positions in the early stages of his career, including run as the club’s starting LT in 2016 and 2017. Since 2018, he has settled in at left guard, and while Pro Football Focus’ metrics have never rated him as an above-average player at that position, he earned three consecutive Pro Bowl nods from 2018-20.
In March 2020, he inked a five-year, $57.5MM contract with the Saints, and thanks to mutliple restructures, his spot on this year’s roster is secure. But the most recent restructure wiped out the final year of the deal and turned it into a void year, so he will be eligible for free agency at season’s end. If he were to turn in a healthy, quality performance in 2023, he could land another lucrative pact next offseason, but his pursuit of such an accord has not gotten off to a great start.
Hurst, meanwhile, signed a one-year deal with the Saints in 2020 and showed enough during his first year in the Big Easy to land a three-year, $9MM contract in March 2021. He worked at both tackle spots and at left guard in 2021 before his extended look on the blind side last year. In each of the last two seasons, he has earned strong pass-blocking grades of 76.9 and 76.6 from Pro Football Focus, though his less stellar run-blocking grades have pulled down his overall marks.
Latest On Bucs C Ryan Jensen
The top two quarterbacks on the Buccaneers’ depth chart, Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask, are currently splitting first-team reps in training camp. Without Tom Brady in the picture, expectations are very different in Tampa this season, though whichever QB wins the starting job will at least have a Pro Bowl center snapping them the ball.
Ryan Jensen, who earned Pro Bowl acclaim in 2021, suffered a major knee injury in last year’s training camp, and it was later revealed that he sustained full tears of his MCL and PCL and a partial tear of his ACL, along with meniscus damage. Although he considered retirement — he had taken out a $5MM insurance policy in the event of a career-ending injury — a stem cell treatement in Antigua allowed him to continue his playing career.
He was also able to avoid surgery, and despite missing all of the regular season in 2022, he returned to play every snap of the Bucs’ playoff loss to the Cowboys in January. However, as detailed by ESPN’s Jenna Laine, Jensen was not at full strength in that game; after all, his original projected return date was September 2023. Luckily, he did not sustain any further knee damage, and he indicated that he is now fully healthy.
“I’m feeling good. Ligaments are healthy and healed and I’m just ready to keep rolling,” Jensen said. “It’s somewhat no different than when you get a surgery done on it. All those ligaments scar in and thicken up and get strength again. … The biggest thing for me is just going to work — going to work every day and attacking something that you’re passionate about.”
Jensen, 32, is an active participant in practice, though he does not take part in every practice period and receives full days off as he and the club endeavor to maintain strength and stability in his knee. If the Bucs are to remain competitive in 2023, which many are viewing as a transition year and not a year in which the playoffs are a realistic goal, they will need to keep Jensen healthy.
Tristan Wirfs is shifting from right tackle to left tackle, free agent acquisition Matt Feiler is penciled in at left guard, rookie Cody Mauch is set to start at right guard, and 2022 second-rounder Luke Goedeke is at the top of the RT depth chart despite playing only 55 snaps there last season. As such, Jensen will be anchoring the O-line in more ways than one, and Tampa Bay hopes that his return will bolster a running game that was the worst in the league in 2022 while keeping Mayfield and/or Trask upright long enough to take advantage of the team’s still-considerable receiving talent.
Jensen is under contract through 2024 thanks to the three-year deal he signed last March, when the Bucs were gearing up for another championship push with Brady at the helm.
Vikings, Danielle Hunter Agree To One-Year Deal
The Vikings and pass rusher Danielle Hunter are in agreement on a new one-year contract, as Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com report (via Twitter). The deal will pay Hunter $17MM in guaranteed money, and he can push that number as high as $20MM (an ESPN report notes that Hunter can earn the extra $3MM via sack incentives). Minnesota has also agreed that it will not put the franchise or transition tag on him next offseason.
We heard just yesterday that Hunter was on the trade block, which was the second time this offseason that his name had cropped up in trade rumors. Still, the Vikings are hoping to make another playoff run in 2023, and after trading Za’Darius Smith in May, trading or releasing Hunter would have left the club rather thin in the edge rush department.
In 2022, Hunter — who skipped OTAs and mandatory minicamp and who may have been “holding in” for the first several days of training camp as he pursued a new deal — recorded 65 tackles and 10.5 sacks while finishing as Pro Football Focus’ seventh-best edge defender out of 119 qualifiers. That performance led to the third Pro Bowl nod of his career.
The LSU product, who was still playing on the five-year, $72MM contract he signed in 2018 (before he earned his first Pro Bowl bid), had watched the pass rusher market explode in subsequent years. So, after posting 14.5 sacks in 2018 and 2019, and after his similarly strong 2022 campaign, it makes sense that the $5.5MM that Hunter was due to earn in 2023 was not particularly appealing to him.
On the other hand, the Vikings’ retience to reward Hunter with a long-term accord that would have placed him near the top of the edge market is also justifiable, as Hunter missed the entire 2020 season with a neck injury and was limited to only seven games in 2021 due to a torn pectoral muscle. The compromise that player and team have struck will give Hunter a handsome raise this year and will give him a chance to hit the open market in 2024 while also allowing Minnesota to secure the talents of an elite pass rusher without jeopardizing its future financial flexibility.
Hunter and free agent acquisition Marcus Davenport will operate as the Vikings’ primary outside linebackers. Davenport, who has dealt with his fair share of recent injury troubles, will also be eligible for free agency next offseason. After recording just a half-sack in his final year with the Saints in 2022, Davenport opted for a one-year pact with Minnesota to rebuild his value (although he will still earn at least $10MM this season).
Saints RB Alvin Kamara Plans To Meet With Roger Goodell
Saints running back Alvin Kamara recently resolved his criminal and civil cases stemming from his involvement in the assault of a man in a Las Vegas nightclub in February 2022. As PFR’s Sam Robinson observed when the resolution was reported, it is now much likelier that the league will hit Kamara with a suspension before the 2023 campaign gets underway. Before that happens, however, Kamara plans to have an in-person meeting with league commissioner Roger Goodell to tell his side of the story, as Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com reports.
Per Duncan, the Saints encouraged Kamara to set up the meeting in an attempt to reduce the size of his suspension, which could be up to six games. It is unclear when the meeting will take place, but it seems that Kamara and Goodell will get together in the next couple of days. Kamara has told reporters that he plans to meet with the media on Wednesday, August 2, saying, “I’ll talk to you all on August 2 after I talk to [Goodell].”
The Las Vegas incident represents the first off-field transgression in Kamara’s seven-year career, as Duncan observes. Nonetheless, it is a serious one, and GM Mickey Loomis has said that the league has not provided any timeline for its decision.
Kamara’s legal matter encountered frequent delays, leaving him free to play throughout the 2022 season. The Saints were less prepared for a Kamara ban last year, but the team has made preparations this offseason. New Orleans agreed to terms on a three-year, $12MM deal with former Packer and Lion Jamaal Williams — last season’s rushing touchdowns leader — and used a third-round pick on TCU back Kendre Miller.
Nonetheless, Kamara should remain the Saints’ top back whenever he is eligible to play, and he will continue to be a focal point of the club’s offense. He is coming off something of a down year, having scored just four total TDs in 2022, but he still posted nearly 1,400 all-purpose yards on 280 touches. While he is techincially under club control through 2025 on his $15MM/year contract, it seems unlikely he will make it to that season without being released or having his contract restructured (his base salary balloons to over $22MM in 2025). If Kamara should turn in a disappointing year in 2023, New Orleans could save some cap space by designating him a post-June 1 cut next year, though the team would also be saddled with a fair amount of dead money in that scenario.
The NFL has declined to comment on the Kamara-Goodell summit.