Texans Cut Ra’Zahn Howard, Others
The Texans are working to get down to a 75-man roster and Ra’Zahn Howard won’t be a part of it. The Texans released the rookie today, according to Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).
The Texans have also informed wide receiver Josh Lenz that he’s not in their future plans (Twitter link). Same goes for tackle Matt Pierson, linebacker Carlos Thompson, tackle Arturo Uzdavinis, and linebacker Ryan Langford, per Mark Berman of FOX 26 (on Twitter). 
Howard went undrafted in this year’s supplemental draft, making him a free agent. Shortly after the draft ended with zero players selected, the Texans signed Howard to a deal which included a signing bonus.
Howard, who stands 6’3″ and 310 pounds, was suspended for academic reasons in January and initially planned on transferring from Purdue to another school. However, he changed his mind and opted to go pro.
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Packers Cut Six Players
The Packers have released six players, according to a team press release. The following players have been dropped by Green Bay:
- DT Demetris Anderson
- CB Randall Jette
- WR Jamel Johnson
- LB Derrick Mathews
- P Peter Mortell
- WR Ed Williams
Mortell, a Green Bay native, signed with the team as a UDFA shortly after this year’s draft. The former Big Ten punter of the year was duking it out with Tim Masthay, but it looks like the veteran has won the job.
Lions Cut Several Players
The Lions are inching closer to the 75-man limit in advance of the Tuesday deadline. On Monday, the Lions announced that the following players have been dropped:
- CB Crezdon Butler
- TE Matthew Mulligan
- WR Quinshad Davis
- OG Chase Farris
- DE Quanterus Smith
- DE Louis Palmer
- DE Deonte Gibson
- CB Rashaad Reynolds
- K Devon Bell
The Lions have also placed rookie long snapper Jimmy Landes on injured reserve. That means Don Muhlbach will likely continue to serve as the Lions’ long snapper.
Earlier today, the Lions also released offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, meaning that they have shed ten players from the roster today. With today’s transactions, the Lions roster currently stands at 78 players.
Broncos Cut 11 Players
The Broncos announced that they have released one player and waived ten others. The full list is below:
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Released:
Waived:
- TE Manasseh Garner
- S Antonio Glover
- OL Mathu Gibson
- OT Cameron Jefferson
- DT David Moala
- WR Durron Neal
- WR DeVier Posey
- LB Darnell Sankey
- LB Frank Shannon
The roster now stands at 79 players. The Broncos must be down to 75 by 3pm CT on Tuesday.
Broncos Trying To Trade Mark Sanchez
The Broncos are working the phones and trying to trade Mark Sanchez, according to Mike Florio of PFT (on Twitter). If they do not find a taker, Sanchez could be cut today or tomorrow. 
Of course, this comes on the heels of the Broncos’ announcement that Trevor Siemian will be the team’s starter for Week 1 of the regular season. With Siemian established as the quarterback of the present and rookie Paxton Lynch as the QB of the future, Sanchez is without a real place on the Broncos’ depth chart after an uninspiring summer.
The Broncos traded for Sanchez this spring as a Plan B in case they were unable to re-sign Brock Osweiler or bring in an established veteran at QB. Denver did not retain Osweiler or land a vet, but Sanchez was unable to win the starting job or even secure the No. 2 role.
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Cowboys Won’t Rule Out Prescott Bumping Romo
In 2001, Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe was hit hard by Jets linebacker Mo Lewis and shut down for the season with a sheared blood vessel in his chest. After that, a quarterback by the name of Tom Brady stepped into the starting lineup and never gave the job back. Could we see a repeat of that in Dallas now that Tony Romo will be sidelined for an extended period? For what it’s worth, Cowboys COO Stephen Jones won’t rule out a scenario in which rookie Dak Prescott impresses and runs away with the starting gig (via Peter King of The MMQB). 
[RELATED: Latest On Cowboys’ QB Search]
“I can’t imagine a scenario where Tony’s not our quarterback when he’s ready,” Jones said. “But things happen. You know that. You know what happened to Bledsoe and Brady. I’m sure Tony’s aware of that. But the reality is, Tony’s going to come back for us and play great, we believe.”
It’s worth noting that Prescott will have a fairly manageable schedule to kick off the season. The Cowboys first six games in order are against the Giants (home), Redskins (away), Bears (home), 49ers (away), Bengals (home), and Packers (away). For now, the Cowboys are planning on Romo regaining the starting job once he is healthy. But, the team knows that the rookie could potentially unseat the 36-year-old QB.
In his chat with Jones, King mentioned the Cowboys’ efforts to trade up for Paxton Lynch in this year’s draft. While the Cowboys whiffed on Lynch, Jones now says that team is thrilled with Prescott and happy with the way things turned out.
“I don’t think our guys would even consider trading Prescott for Lynch right now,” said Jones. “No, I know they wouldn’t. That’s how much they like Dak right now.”
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Trevor Siemian To Start For Broncos
The Broncos have announced that Trevor Siemian will be their starting quarterback to open the 2016 season. Siemian cemented his status as
the Broncos‘ starting quarterback after turning in a solid performance during Saturday night’s preseason victory over the Rams.
Siemian offers no real NFL experience, but he impressed Broncos brass this offseason with his arm and overall poise. Mark Sanchez was widely expected to come away as the team’s starter this offseason, but he quickly fell behind the 2015 seventh-round pick. Now, one has to wonder if Sanchez will be on the Broncos’ roster to start the season. The Broncos haven’t asked Sanchez to take a pay cut yet, but that could be coming soon.
Rookie Paxton Lynch has received rave reviews for his raw talent in practices this offseason, but the team believes that he will need some more seasoning before being thrown into the NFL fire.
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Lions To Release Geoff Schwartz
The Lions will release Geoff Schwartz today, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweets. Schwartz is healthy but the team’s logjam on the offensive line left him on the outside. By releasing Schwartz today, the Lions are giving the veteran a little bit of a head start on finding his next job. 
Schwartz, 29, signed a four-year contract with the Giants in March 2014, but injuries limited him to just 13 games over two seasons for New York. This offseason, he inked a one-year deal with Detroit. His Lions deal marked his fifth team in nine NFL seasons, though he never got to suit up for them in a regular season game. Schwartz has also had stops in Carolina, Minnesota, and Kansas City since entering the league as a seventh-round pick in 2008.
After trading for guard Brandon Thomas on Sunday, there was no room left for Schwartz. The Lions are now decidedly younger on the O-Line than they were one year ago.
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Jets Receiving Trade Interest In Geno Smith?
Does Geno Smith have trade value? Apparently, there are at least a couple of teams out there with at least a little bit of interest in the Jets quarterback. There is “soft interest around the league in Smith,” according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
Teams have called the Jets to ask about their surplus players at a few different positions, including quarterback. Those types of calls are very common during this time of year when teams are trimming down from 90 to 75, then from 75 to 53. However, it’s interesting to note that some executives are intrigued by Smith despite his struggles in New York and his awful luck in 2015.
For his part, Smith said this summer that he will not rule out a future with the Jets in 2017 and beyond. The Jets, meanwhile, seem to have other plans at the position. Ryan Fitzpatrick will be the starter this season and the Jets are hoping that rookie Christian Hackenberg will be the go-to guy down the line. That leaves Bryce Petty and Smith to battle over the primary backup spot and some reports have indicated that Petty has looked better than Smith so far this summer.
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Ravens Place Watson, Arrington On IR
The Ravens took a big step towards getting their roster down to 75 today. The Ravens announced that they have placed veteran tight end Ben Watson and cornerback Kyle Arrington on injured reserve. Meanwhile, the team has also waived eight other players and cut one.
Both Watson and Arrington suffered their season-ending injuries during preseason. In the Ravens’ preseason opener against the Panthers, Arrington suffered a concussion that he has yet to recover from. Watson, meanwhile, tore his Achilles on Saturday night against the Lions.
The Ravens cut linebacker Kavell Conner and he’ll immediately hit the free agent market as a vested veteran. Meanwhile, the following eight players have been waived:
- G Jarell Broxton
- DT Trevon Coley
- WR Dobson Collins
- C Anthony Fabiano
- WR Chuck Jacobs
- QB Jerrod Johnson
- LB Mario Ojemudia
- WR Darius White
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