Latest On Cowboys’ QB Search
The Cowboys will spend the next week searching for a quarterback with Tony Romo sidelined, but any quarterback they bring in will be No. 2 on the depth chart behind Dak Prescott, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Prescott will be Dallas’ starter until Tony Romo is ready to return. 
Meanwhile, it doesn’t sound like the Cowboys and Browns will get together on a Josh McCown trade (link). Apparently, between the Browns’ asking price and McCown’s salary, it’s all a little too rich for the Cowboys’ blood. Earlier this summer, it was reported that the Browns were seeking a fourth-round pick for McCown. The Cowboys, meanwhile, didn’t want to give up anything of value for the veteran signal caller and it was speculated that they would not sacrifice more than a sixth-rounder for him.
Romo suffered a compression fracture to his L1 vertebra. He will not need surgery on his back, but the 36-year-old could miss 6-10 weeks as he heals up.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Redskins To Work Out Cullen Jenkins
The Redskins are on the lookout for some veteran help on the defensive line. Cullen Jenkins is on his way to the Washington D.C. area to work out for the Redskins, according to Chris Cooley of ESPN 980 (on Twitter). 
Jenkins, 35, spent the first seven years of his career with the Packers before hooking on with the Eagles (2011, 2012) and the Giants (2013-2015). You may also know Jenkins as the victim of a Damontre Moore outburst in New York when Moore did not receive a free pair of Beats by Dre headphones in the Giants locker room.
Last season, the defensive end started in 14 games for the Giants and appeared in all 16 contests. He tallied 26 tackles and 3.0 sacks.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Colts Release Four Players
The Colts have released four players as they continue to trim their way down to a 75-man roster. On Monday morning, the Colts announced that they have released tight end Konrad Reuland while waiving wide receiver Daniel Anthrop, tackle Keith Lumpkin, and running back Trey Williams. 
Reuland was at the bottom of the Colts’ tight end depth chart with Dwayne Allen, Jack Doyle, Erik Swoope, and Darion Griswold all ahead of him. The well-traveled 29-year-old appeared in 26 games for the Jets between 2012 and 2013 and also appeared in four games for the Ravens last season.
The Colts’ roster now stands at 77 thanks to the wave of cuts made over the weekend. They must drop two more players between now and the 75-man deadline.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
49ers Could Cut Colin Kaepernick
49ers coach Chip Kelly has said that Colin Kaepernick‘s controversial decision not to stand for the national anthem will not affect his standing in the team’s quarterback competition. However, there’s now word that Kaepernick could potentially be released before the start of the season for football reasons. 
“Regardless of politics or not, he has a very, very big uphill battle to make this team,” insider Jay Glazer said on FOX. “I’d be shocked if he’s on the 49ers by the time this season ends. It has nothing to do with political views whatsoever. He lost a ton of weight this offseason, had three surgeries, couldn’t work out, lost that double threat, that size-speed ratio. No political views, he just hasn’t been effective. He’s regressing as a player. I’d be shocked if he’s on this roster by the end of this year. He may not be on it in the next two weeks.”
It would certainly be surprising if the 49ers cut their one-time franchise quarterback before the start of the season, particularly given that his $11.9MM salary is guaranteed for 2016. By releasing Kaepernick, the Niners would effectively be saying that regardless of salary, Christian Ponder and Jeff Driskel are both better quarterbacks than he is at this moment. It’s also possible that the Niners view Kaepernick’s presence as a distraction and they may not want him lurking over Blaine Gabbert‘s shoulder in 2016.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bryan Stork Trade Rescinded
Bryan Stork won’t be joining the Redskins after all. The center failed his physical with his new team, meaning that the trade between the Redskins and the Patriots has been rescinded, as Chris Cooley of ESPN 980 tweets. Stork’s rights will revert back to the Patriots while the Redskins get the conditional seventh-round pick back. 
For those of you keeping score at home, here’s the finally tally of Stork’s travels over the last week. On Wednesday, Stork was supposedly on the verge of being released by the Patriots. However, the Redskins got word that Stork was about to be released and, rather than fight it out with other teams on the open market, they worked out a trade with the Patriots. Hours later, it was learned that Stork was thinking about quitting football altogether. The Redskins got Stork to change his mind, but it turns out he’s not healthy enough to play right now anyway.
Had Stork actually joined Washington, he would have likely slotted in as the No. 2 center to Kory Lichtensteiger. In fact, there were some rumblings that the Redskins were hoping that Stork could push Lichtensteiger for the starting job. Now, Washington will have to look for interior line help elsewhere.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Patriots Cut Terrance Knighton
The Patriots have had enough Pot Roast. Veteran defensive lineman Terrance Knighton was released by the Pats this morning, as first reported by Knighton himself on Twitter. By cutting Knighton, the Pats save $900K in salary and $3MM in bonuses.
This offseason, the Pats inked Knighton to a one-year, $4.5MM deal. However, he struggled in the team’s second preseason game against Chicago and he did not log a single defensive snap during New England’s third preseason contest against Carolina on Friday night. Knighton found himself slipping on the Pats’ depth chart in recent weeks and his salary was no longer justifiable for the team, even though they have seen stars like Rob Ninkovich go down with injuries.
Knighton, who started his career in Jacksonville, spent two seasons in Denver before heading to Washington for the 2015 campaign. The 30-year-old has been very durable in his first seven NFL seasons, appearing in 108 total regular-season games, including 96 starts.
A nose tackle in Washington’s 3-4 scheme, Pot Roast logged 29 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 2015. Although he didn’t have quite the same impact last year that he did during his final season as a Bronco, Knighton ranked in the top half of Pro Football Focus’ list of qualified interior defenders, placing 58th out of 123 players. Predictably, PFF assigned Knighton a much better grade as a run defender than as a pass rusher.
The Patriots now must release six more players by 3pm CT on Tuesday in order to reach the 75 man max.
Photo courtesy of PFR on Instagram.
Browns Cut Paul Kruger, Others
The Browns have released linebacker Paul Kruger, as Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com writes. Also in this wave of cuts were kicker Travis Coons, quarterback Austin Davis and tight end E.J. Bibbs. 
Kruger recorded 11.0 sacks in 2014, but last season he saw his sack count drop to 2.5. Over the summer, Kruger didn’t perform as well as the team had hoped and today he became a roster casualty as the club focuses more on its young players. According to Cabot, Friday night’s preseason game against the Bucs was Kruger’s last chance to make a strong impression on the team but he failed to do that as he didn’t get close to sacking starter Jameis Winston.
Kruger came to the Browns in 2013 when he inked a five-year free agent deal worth $40.5MM, including $13MM guaranteed. He was under contract through next season at $6.5MM this year and $7MM next year. Now, the Browns will save millions by cutting him loose.
Meanwhile, the release of Coons means that former Bucs kicker Patrick Murray has won the Browns’ kicking job.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bryan Stork To Report To Redskins
SUNDAY, 10:05am: In the clearest sign yet that Stork will report to the Redskins, Stork himself tweeted that he is looking forward to making great memories in Washington, and he added a “Hail to the Redskins” hashtag at the end of his tweet.
SATURDAY, 11:25am: While most reports indicate that Stork will indeed report, Redskins coach Jay Gruden didn’t necessarily sound convinced following his team’s preseason win last night.
As Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com notes, Gruden said the lineman will “supposedly” report to the Redskins today, although he notes that Stork still has to make a “final decision.”
THURSDAY, 8:55pm: Stork has informed the Redskins that he will report to team headquarters this weekend, according to Mike Jones of the Washington Post.
12:28pm: It sounds like Bryan Stork will suit up for the Redskins after all. The newly-acquired center was leaning towards retirement, but he is now expected to be in town and ready to go this weekend, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 
For those of you who weren’t following Storkgate on Wednesday, here is a quick recap. On Wednesday morning, Stork was supposedly on the verge of being released by the Patriots. Later on in the day, the Redskins got word that Stork was about to be cut loose they decided to work out a trade with the Patriots rather than duke it out with other interested teams. Hours later, we learned that Stork was thinking about quitting football altogether.
Had Stork opted to retire, he would have been forced to give up half of his $477K signing bonus (~$238K), in addition to losing his 2016 salary of $600K. His retirement also would have left the Redskins in a bad spot with their offensive line. Washington hoping that Stork will serve as a backup to Kory Lichtensteiger, or maybe even push him for the starting job.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AFC Notes: Steelers, Colts, Dolphins, Patriots
Agent Drew Rosenhaus, in New Orleans as the Steelers prepared for tonight’s preseason game against the Saints, discussed wide receiver Antonio Brown‘s contract with Pittsburgh general manager Kevin Colbert, tweets Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Brown, who has two years left on his deal, has been requesting a new contract for some time, but the Steelers have been insistent that they won’t negotiate right now. Universally considered an elite pass-catcher, Brown is ranked 18th among wide receivers in terms of average annual compensation ($8.4MM/year).
Here’s more from the AFC:
- The Colts are meeting with Stevan Ridley today, but don’t expect them to sign him or any other running back before the end of the day, according to Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). If Ridley proves to be healthy, he could be a quality backup for starter Frank Gore. The Colts have spoken at length about their plan to preserve Gore and keep him on a pitch count. Last year, Gore wound up carrying the ball 260 times, and Indianapolis wants to dial that number down so that the veteran can be fresh late in the season.
- Dolphins linebacker Jelani Jenkins underwent a “cleanup” procedure on his knee, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link), and although Jackson doesn’t specify a timeline, it’s fair to assume the operation took place fairly recently. Defensive end Terrence Fede, meanwhile, has a sprained MCL, so Miami’s defensive depth could be getting a little thin. The Dolphins had interest in adding linebacker Stephen Tulloch before he signed with the Eagles, so the club could look to add some bodies to its defense during the next few weeks.
- Linebacker Vince Williams‘ new deal with the Steelers calls for him to earn $5MM in new money over the three-year span, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. His 2016 salary of $675K remains the same but he also gets a $1.5MM signing bonus with a $2MM salary in 2017 and 2018.
- Barkevious Mingo‘s skillset is a solid fit for the Patriots‘ versatile defense, as the former Brown is comfortable both rushing and dropping into coverage from the linebacker position, explains Doug Kyed of NESN.com. Earlier today, I examined why New England might have shipped a fifth-round to Cleveland for Mingo (aside from on-field reasons).
Pigskin Links: Goff, Lewis, Donald Trump
Here at Pro Football Rumors, we deliver up-to-the-minute news on NFL transactions and high-quality original analysis. Each week, we also feature some of the best blog articles from around the web in our regular feature, Pigskin Links.
We’re looking for interesting reads on all things football from blogs of all sizes. While PFR is dedicated to player movement, Pigskin Links is open to pieces on all areas of the game. If you would like to suggest your blog post (or someone else’s) for Pigskin Links, send us an email with the link and a brief synopsis at PigskinLinks@gmail.com.
Here’s this week’s look around the football blogosphere:
- NFL Spin Zone says Jeff Fisher is right to be patient with Jared Goff.
- Fantasy Pros discussed Dion Lewis and other RBs returning from ACL tears.
- Wayniac Nation reflected on the USFL and outspoken owner Donald Trump.
- Today’s Pigskin gave us their preseason all-prospect team.
- Total Sports Live says Paul Turner should make the Eagles’ cut.
- Brew City Sports Report predicted the Packers’ final 53-man roster.
- The Inscriber Mag recapped this week’s Hard Knocks.
- From The Rafters predicts the Pats’ roster and taxi squad.
- Cup Of Joe In The D is looking forward to the NFL season.
Got a great football blog post that you want to see featured in next week’s Pigskin Links? Email it to Zach or tweet it to him: @ZachLinks.