Bryan Walters

NFL Workout Updates: 9/13/17

Today’s workout updates, with nearly all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account:

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee Titans

Washington Redskins

Jaguars Release WR Bryan Walters

Bryan Walters‘ tenure with the Jaguars has apparently come to an end. ESPN’s Michael DiRocco reports (via Twitter) that the organization has released the wide receiver from the injured reserve with an injury settlement.

Bryan WaltersWalters was placed on the Jaguars’ injured reserve last week after suffering a foot injury. While full details on the receiver’s injury haven’t emerged, it was assumed that the 29-year-old would end up missing the entire 2017 season.

The 2010 undrafted free agent out of Cornell spent the past two seasons with Jacksonville, appearing in 24 total games (with four starts). After hauling in 32 catches during his first year with the team, Walters finished the 2016 season with 24 receptions for 231 yards and two touchdowns. The wideout previously spent time with the Seahawks and Chargers, where he proved to be a capable punt and kick returner.

This offseason, the team re-signed the receiver to a one-year deal that was worth up to $2.3MM. The contract also contained a second-year option.

Walters would have provided some wide receiver depth behind starters Allen RobinsonMarqise LeeAllen Hurns. The team will now eye Dede WestbrookArrelious BennRashad Greene, and Shane Wynn as candidates for the fourth receiver spot.

Jaguars Place Bryan Walters On IR

The Jaguars re-signed Bryan Walters in March on a two-year deal, but a sudden development affecting the wide receiver’s timeline looks to have changed the plans. Walters sustained a foot injury recently that will send him to the Jags’ IR, according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union.

While the precise injury isn’t specified, it looks to end Walters’ season. It would have been the veteran’s third with the Jaguars. To replace Walters on the 90-man roster, Jacksonville signed cornerback Brian Dixon. The Jags also added now-well-traveled corner Tyler Patmon in a separate transaction Monday.

The 29-year-old Walters finished last season as a backup but one who served as the team’s No. 4 wide receiver. The former Seahawks special-teamer caught 24 passes for 231 yards and two scores. He was more productive a year earlier, recording a career-high 368 air yards on 32 receptions. The Jaguars added Dede Westbrook in the fourth round of the draft and still have Rashad Greene and Arrelious Benn on their roster.

Dixon, 27, comes to Jacksonville after the Cardinals cut him to make room for newer UDFAs earlier this month. The former UDFA out of Northwest Missouri State spent more than two seasons with the Saints, playing in 37 games. The 26-year-old Patmon also entered the league as a 2014 UDFA, doing so with the Cowboys. He made two starts for Dallas but was cut during the 2015 season. The Jags will be his sixth team. The Panthers cut Patmon on the same day Dixon was waived.

Jaguars Re-Sign Bryan Walters

Bryan Walters‘ contributions over the past two years enticed the Jaguars to keep him for at least one more. The Jags signed the veteran wide receiver to a one-year deal that stands to be worth as much as $2.3MM if incentives are met, Mike Kaye of First Coast News reports (on Twitter).

The deal includes a second-year option, per Kaye. The 29-year-old Walters came to Jacksonville from Seattle in 2015 having totaled less than 100 career receiving yards. He’s gone for 599 in his two Jags seasons, hauling in 24 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns last season as an auxiliary target.

 

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/26/16

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

  • The Lions announced that they have waived linebacker Zaviar Gooden. Gooden was bumped from the practice squad to the main roster on Sunday and played in 27 of the team’s 54 snaps.
  • The Jaguars have released offensive tackle Rashod Hill, according to agent Brett Tessler (on Twitter). If he clears waivers, Tessler says that Jacksonville will re-sign him to the practice squad. Taking his place will be wide receiver Bryan Walters (Twitter link via Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com).
  • The Jets waived linebacker Julian Stanford, as Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets.
  • Former Kansas City seventh-round wide receiver Da’Ron Brown visited the Jaguars, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets.

Jaguars Cut Bryan Walters, Promote Rashod Hill

The Jaguars have cut a veteran wideout in favor of a local offensive lineman. Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union reports (via Twitter) that the team has cut Bryan Waltersreceiver Bryan Walters and promoted offensive tackle Rashod Hill.

The Jaguars were struggling for offensive line depth following injuries to Kelvin Beachum and Brandon Linder. If the duo misses this weekend’s game, the team would have had only one reserve lineman on the roster (assuming two of Tyler Shatley, Patrick Omameh and Chris Reed would be inserted into the starting lineup). As a result, the team decided to promote Hill, who was originally signed as an undrafted rookie out of Southern Miss. The rookie actually grew up in Jacksonville and played high school football at Ed White High School.

Following a relatively productive 2015 campaign, Walters found himself as the Jaguars’ sixth wideout entering 2016. The former Seahawks and Chargers receiver set career-highs with Jacksonville last season, compiling 32 receptions, 368 yards, and one touchdown. The 28-year-old didn’t make an appearance through the Jaguars’ first two games this season.

Jags Re-Sign Walters, Put Greene On IR-DTR

The Jaguars have made a pair of related roster moves today, re-signing wide receiver Bryan Walters to their 53-man roster and placing WR/KR Rashad Greene on injured reserve with the designation to return, according to the team (Twitter link).

Greene, who had been dealing with a back issue earlier in the season, sustained a thumb injury in Sunday’s win over the Dolphins, and the banged-up rookie will now be sidelined for six weeks from practice and eight weeks from game action. The former Florida State wideout was the Jaguars’ fifth-round pick this past May, coming off the board 139th overall.

As for Walters, he initially signed with Jacksonville back in March, but was cut last week by the team. Having served as the Seahawks’ primary punt returner in 2014, Walters figures to contribute in the return game for the Jaguars as long as he remains on the roster. He also may fill in as a slot receiver on offense.

Jacksonville becomes the 15th NFL team to use its IR-DTR slot this season, as our complete list shows.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/19/15

Here are the latest minor moves from across the NFL:

  • The Patriots released wide receiver Jonathan Krause, who was on injured reserve, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Krause went undrafted out of Vanderbilt and has spent time with both the Cleveland and New England organizations.
  • The Eagles reached an injury settlement with defensive end Brian Mihalik, per Wilson (Twitter link). Mihalik, formerly of Boston College, was a seventh-round pick of the Eagles in this year’s draft.
  • The Raiders signed safety Tevin McDonald from their practice squad, according to their website. McDonald is an undrafted rookie from Eastern Washington.
  • Washington cut defensive end Frank Kearse and signed linebacker Terrance Plummer from its practice squad, per Mike Jones of the Washington Post (Twitter link). Kearse amassed career highs in games (15), tackles (12) and sacks (three) as a member of Washington’s defense in 2014. He appeared in 16 games from 2011-13 with the Panthers and Cowboys. Plummer is an undrafted rookie from Central Florida.
  • The Bears cut defensive back Demontre Hurst and promoted defensive lineman Brandon Dunn from their practice squad, according to ESPN’s Jeff Dickerson (Twitter link). Hurst totaled 39 tackles and an interception as an undrafted rookie last year, and added a tackle in the Bears’ loss to Green Bay last week. Dunn, also in his second year, spent most of last season on the Bears’ practice squad. He appeared in three games and made one tackle.

Earlier updates:

  • In order to make room for Phillips, San Diego cut wide receiver Tyrell Williams, per Gehlken (on Twitter). Williams, who will traverse the waivers process, had a standout preseason as a rookie. This cut leaves the Chargers thinner at receiver. Gehlken estimates only four dressing Sunday, with Dontrelle Inman residing as the Bolts’ only backup.
  • The Chargers added Adrian Phillips from their practice squad, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Michael Gehlken (on Twitter). They will make a corresponding move later today, per Gehlken. An undrafted rookie safety in 2014, Phillips suited up for three games last year for the Chargers.
  • The Jaguars moved cornerback Peyton Thompson to their active roster and cut wideout Bryan Walters to make room, Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union reports (on Twitter). A fourth-year veteran, Thompson played two games for the Jags last season after spending 2012 in Atlanta and 2013 with Washington. Walters, 28, played one game in Jacksonville last season while playing the previous two with the Seahawks. He booked a start for the 2013 Super Bowl champion Seahawks after starting his career in San Diego two years prior.
  • The Panthers also swapped out a wide receiver for another position in cutting Damiere Byrd, an undrafted rookie from South Carolina, from their practice squad to make room for offensive tackle Pierce Burton on their 10-man unit, David Newton of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). The Falcons released Burton from their practice squad last week.
  • Rookie UDFA wide receiver Javess Blue received an injury settlement from the Packers, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). Due to the settlement, Blue cannot re-sign with Green Bay for at least six weeks.
  • The Vikings reached an injury settlement with 2015 sixth-round offensive lineman Tyrus Thompson, per Wilson (on Twitter). The 23-year-old from Oklahoma took first-team reps with the Vikings at right guard this summer before the team moved tackle Mike Harris inside, where he starts now.

Sunday Roundup: Chargers, Kalil, Pryor

As the stadium saga in Los Angeles continues to unfold, more and more speculative pieces are written in an effort to uncover the intentions of the primary players in the drama and to predict how the league’s landscape will be altered within the next couple of years. Matt Calkins of The San Diego Union-Tribune, for instance, writes that Chargers counsel Michael Fabiani, whose negotiating tactics have made him widely-loathed by Chargers fans and San Diego officials, has a method to his madness.

As Calkins writes, the NFL does not really care which team or teams end up in Los Angeles, as long as it is satisfied that whatever arrangement ultimately unfolds maximizes the league’s profits. So if Rams owner Stan Kroenke ends up moving his team to LA, and stadium negotiations are going well in San Diego but poorly in Oakland, the league may decide that the Raiders should join the Rams in LA, leaving the Chargers with no leverage in its talks with San Diego.

Therefore, it is important for Fabiani that discussions with the city not go too well at the moment, even if it makes him appear arrogant and diabolical. And if the team ends up staying in San Diego, it is likely that most Chargers fans would be willing to forgive and forget.

Now let’s have a look at some links from around the league:

  • Speaking of the Los Angeles dilemma, David Garrick of The San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the Chargers, who have made nine unsuccessful relocation proposals across San Diego County since 2003, have ostensibly met the league’s relocation criteria of exhausting all local options, which gives the team a strong argument in support of its potential move to LA. However, that argument may not have as much weight as the Chargers hope, as critics of the move say that “many of the stadium proposals were flimsy, the time period included the worst recession in 70 years and public support for a stadium had been poisoned by the infamous Chargers ‘ticket guarantee’ at Qualcomm stadium.”
  • Matt Kalil will get every chance to keep his starting left tackle job in 2015, but as Ben Goessling of ESPN.com writes, if Kalil is fully healthy this year yet continues to struggle, the Vikings will have a hard time bringing him back at his $11.1MM option figure.
  • Even though Terrelle Pryor has stated his intention to move from quarterback to wide receiver, and even though the Browns explicitly stated that Pryor would try out for the team as a wide receiver, Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com believes that we will see Pryor under center at some point in training camp. Grossi notes, however, that he is only expressing an opinion and has not heard anything to that effect from the organization.
  • John Keim of ESPN.com believes that Logan Paulsen will likely make Washington‘s final roster, as he is the best blocking tight end on the team and therefore serves as a nice complement to Niles Paul. However, Keim writes that Washington remains interested in adding to its tight end corps.
  • Ryan O’Halloran of The Florida Times-Union projects playing time for each of the Jaguars newcomers on defense and wonders if time has already run out on receiver Bryan Walters. Walters was signed as a free agent in March, but missed most of the team’s OTAs due to a hamstring injury. His best chance to make the team is by winning the punt return job over Ace Sanders and Tandon Doss, but without a long resume to lean on, he needs to be on the field.

 

AFC South Notes: Colts, Greene, Titans, Jags

The Colts have thought outside the box as they’ve attempted to round out the bottom of their roster. As Stephen Holder of the Indy Star points out, the team currently has four former CFL players, two college basketball players and a Kenyan rugby player under contract.

The mix of different backgrounds isn’t unusual to general manager Ryan Grigson, who is willing to look anywhere to make his team better:

“If you have elite athletic traits, you can do this. This isn’t one of those specialized sports, like golf. If you have a level of toughness and you can move and you have instincts, if you have those at an elite level, you’re going to get a chance.”

Let’s take a look at more notes out of the AFC South, including additional whispers from Indianapolis…