Brandon Bostick

Brandon Bostick Gets 4-Game Suspension

The NFL has handed free agent tight end Brandon Bostick a four-game suspension, according to Howard Balzer of BalzerFootball.com (Twitter link). The reason for Bostick’s ban is unclear.

Brandon Bostick

Bostick, 27, reached the open market when the Jets declined to tender the then-restricted free agent a contract last month. In 2016, his lone season with Gang Green, Bostick started in seven of 16 appearances for a club devoid of solid options at tight end and caught eight of 11 targets for 63 yards. With blocking factored in, Pro Football Focus ranked Bostick 51st in overall performance among the league’s 63 qualified tight ends.

Prior to joining the Jets, Bostick saw action with the Packers from 2013-14 and totaled nine receptions and two touchdowns in 24 regular-season games. In the NFC championship game in January 2015, Bostick’s final contest with the Packers, his inability to field an onside kick helped the Seahawks make an improbable comeback and advance to Super Bowl XLIX.

Top 2017 Free Agents By Position 3.0: Offense

The initial wave of NFL free agency is now complete, and while many of the league’s top available players are now off the board, there are still plenty of quality options still on the open market.

Listed below are our rankings for the top 15 free agents at each offensive position. These rankings aren’t necessarily determined by the value of the contracts – or the amount of guaranteed money – that each player is expected to land in free agency. These are simply the players we like the most at each position, with both short- and long-term value taken into account.

Restricted and exclusive-rights free agents, as well as players who received the franchise tag, aren’t listed here, since the roadblocks in place to hinder another team from actually acquiring most of those players prevent them from being true free agents.

We’ll almost certainly be higher or lower on some free agents than you are, so feel free to weigh in below in our comments section to let us know which players we’ve got wrong.

Here’s our breakdown of the current top 15 free agents by offensive position for 2017:

Quarterback:

  1. Jay Cutler
  2. Chase Daniel
  3. Ryan Fitzpatrick
  4. Colin Kaepernick
  5. Josh McCown
  6. Robert Griffin III
  7. Case Keenum
  8. Matt McGloin
  9. Mark Sanchez
  10. Christian Ponder
  11. Blaine Gabbert
  12. Ryan Nassib
  13. Shaun Hill
  14. Kellen Moore
  15. Austin Davis

Tony Romo is not a free agent…at least not yet. If the Cowboys do not find a suitable trade and release him, you’ll find him at the top of this list.

Laugh if you must, but Cutler is far and away the best quarterback available on the open market. While most of this year’s QB-needy teams are done with their free agent shopping, the Jets are still searching for their 2017 starter and no one would make more sense for them than Cutler. He’s not all that far removed from playing solid football and he’s a logical transitional option for the Jets until they can isolate a better, younger option for 2018. Jay Cutler (Vertical)

Kaepernick’s reps wisely told the press that he will be standing for the National Anthem this year. Still, Kaepernick is an outspoken guy who wants to use his platform to discuss hot button issues, so there’s no guarantee that the media circus around him will cease. Jets owner Woody Johnson loves seeing his team on the back pages of the New York tabloids, but even he has to have more sense than to entertain Kaepernick. McCown, who has been contact with the team, would be an okay choice if they can’t get something done with Cutler. Chase Daniel could be an option too, but there isn’t much game film on him.

Needless to say, the No. 3 ranked player on this list isn’t an option in New York.

Running back:

  1. Adrian Peterson
  2. LeGarrette Blount
  3. Jamaal Charles
  4. Rashad Jennings
  5. Tim Hightower
  6. DeAngelo Williams
  7. Chris Johnson
  8. Christine Michael
  9. Benny Cunningham
  10. Bobby Rainey
  11. Brandon Bolden
  12. Denard Robinson
  13. James Starks
  14. Matt Asiata
  15. Kenjon Barner

Honorable mention: DuJuan Harris, Antonio AndrewsKhiry Robinson

Adrian Peterson (vertical)The Vikings have moved on and Peterson will not be back in Minnesota. Where he goes from here is anyone’s guess. When Peterson’s option was declined by the Vikings earlier this month, there were tons of stories (likely sourced by Peterson’s camp) about interest from a litany of contenders. Since then, each team – through anonymous sources – has denied being in the mix for the veteran. It would be easy to doubt Peterson at this juncture, but he has come back from serious injuries multiple times in his career and he is only one year removed from his stellar 2015 campaign. He gets the top spot over the bruising Blount as well as Charles, who hasn’t been healthy in a long while.

Jennings was brought to New York with the idea that he would be the team’s workhorse. Unfortunately, two of his three seasons with the G-Men were marred by injury. Jennings is currently putting his agility to good use on Dancing With The Stars and it remains to be seen how committed he is to football. After that, we have a trio of vets (Hightower, Williams, CJ2K) who could still advance the ball in limited spurts.

In case you’re wondering – Mike Gillislee is not listed here because he is a restricted free agent.

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RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/9/17

Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted and exclusive rights free agents. All RFA tenders listed are original round/right of first refusal (worth $1.797MM), and all links go to Twitter:

RFAs:

Tendered:

Non-Tendered: 

ERFAs:

Tendered:

Non-Tendered: 

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/5/16

Here are today’s reserve/futures contract signings from around the league. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2016 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ 90-man rosters.

Arizona Cardinals

  • Taylor Boggs, C (Twitter link via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com)
  • Valerian Ume-Ezeoke, C
  • Mike Reilly, OLB
  • Tyrequek Zimmerman, S

Baltimore Ravens

  • Jerod Johnson, QB (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle)

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

  • Burton Pierce, OT
  • Ben Heenan, G
  • Edwin Jackson, LB
  • Kitt O’Brien, G
  • Dezmen Southward, DB
  • Joshua Stangby. WR

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

  • Garrett Gilbert, QB (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle)
  • Giorgio Tavecchio, K

San Diego Chargers

San Francisco 49ers

  • Corey Acosta, K (link via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle)

St. Louis Rams

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/8/15

Here are today’s practice squad signings and cuts from around the league:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

  • Signed: WR Jamel Johnson (Twitter link via Rob Demovksy of ESPN.com), RB Ross Scheuerman (Twitter link via the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson)
  • Cut: DB Kyle Sebetic

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

  • To be signed: WR Antwan Goodley (Twitter link via Adam Caplan of ESPN.com)
  • Cut: WR DeShon Foxx (Twitter link via The Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta)

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/2/15

Here are Wednesday’s practice squad signings and cuts from across the NFL:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

  • Signed: TE Dan Light (link via Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post)
  • Cut: TE Arthur Lynch

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

Oakland Raiders

San Diego Chargers

Seattle Seahawks

  • Signed: WR Deshon Foxx, DT Justin Hamilton, C Drew Nowak (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle)
  • Cut: WR Douglas McNeil

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/2/15

Here are Friday’s practice squad signings and cuts from across the NFL:

Arizona Cardinals

San Diego Chargers

St. Louis Rams

Workout Notes: Jets, Brown, Chargers, Lions

The Jets auditioned running back Bryce Brown on Tuesday, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). Brown has showed flashes of promise in the past, but he was unable to stick with the Bills in 2015. The Bills traded a 2015 fourth-round pick to the Eagles to acquire Brown before the start of last season and that’s a deal that GM Doug Whaley probably wouldn’t make again. In 2014, Brown ran for a grand total of 126 yards off of 36 carries.

Here’s a rundown of other notable workouts from around the NFL..

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/22/15

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad signings and cuts from around the NFL:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

  • Signed: WR Damiere Byrd (Twitter link via David Newton of ESPN.com)
  • Cut: LB Brian Blechen

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

  • Signed: RB Gus Johnson (Twitter link via Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

  • Signed: T Tyrus Thompson (Twitter link via agent Ken Sarnoff)

Oakland Raiders

Philadelphia Eagles

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Cut: WR Rannell Hall (Twitter link via Jenna Laine of Sports Talk Florida)

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC West

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC West teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Cardinals, 49ers, Seahawks, and Rams are noted below.

Additionally, as of 11:00am today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. For the 2014 and 2015 seasons, changes were made to practice squad rules that allow teams to carry eight players instead of 10, and the eligibility requirements for those extra two spots were also loosened. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s NFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Arizona Cardinals

San Francisco 49ers

  • Signed to practice squad (link via Matt Maiocco):
    • WR DiAndre Campbell
    • CB Marcus Cromartie
    • RB Kendall Gaskins
    • DT Kaleb Ramsey
    • OLB Marcus Rush
    • NT Garrison Smith
    • QB Dylan Thompson
    • OG Andrew Tiller (Twitter link via Matt Barrows)
    • S Jermaine Whitehead (Twitter link via Barrows)

Seattle Seahawks

St. Louis Rams

  • Signed to practice squad: