NFL Workout Updates: 11/26/19
Got a whole lot of workout updates to pass along:
Carolina Panthers
- DL Woodrow Hamilton, DL Stacy McGee, DL Jay-Tee Tiuli
Green Bay Packers
- OL Cody Conway, LB Joe Dineen, OT Antonio Garcia, OL Tyler Jones, OL Marquez Tucker
Jacksonville Jaguars
Los Angeles Chargers
New Orleans Saints
- C Josh LeRibeus, OT Michael Ola, OL Bryan Witzmann
New York Jets
- LB Garret Dooley, LB Nicholas Grigsby, LB Gimel President
Seattle Seahawks
- TE Keenen Brown, TE C.J. Conrad, DB Jayson Stanley
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Panthers To Sign DL Stacy McGee
Hours after Dontari Poe underwent season-ending surgery, the Panthers agreed to terms with a potential replacement. Carolina will sign former Washington and Oakland defensive lineman Stacy McGee, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
McGee has not played this season but was a key interior defender with the Raiders and Redskins. The six-year veteran worked out for the Bears and Jaguars recently but did not sign with either team. He will get a chance to join a Carolina rotation decimated by injuries.
The Panthers entered the season with perhaps the highest-profile group of interior linemen in the game, with Gerald McCoy joining Poe and Kawann Short. Injuries to the latter two have left McCoy alone for the Panthers’ stretch run. Short has been on IR for several weeks, and Poe’s torn quad will sideline him for the rest of the season.
A 2013 sixth-round Raiders selection, McGee signed a five-year, $25MM deal with Washington in 2017. After a 10-start 2017 season, McGee underwent late-offseason thigh surgery. That limited him to 10 games in 2018. The Redskins cut the 29-year-old D-lineman in March, but he will have a chance to make a case for 2020 NFL employment over the final five games of this season.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/25/19
A handful of practice squad moves to pass along:
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: K Greg Joseph
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: CB Picasso Nelson Jr.
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: LB Malik Jefferson
The signing of Joseph is somewhat notable, as Panthers kicker Joey Slye missed three field goals during his team’s three-point loss to the Saints yesterday. Joseph appeared in 10 games for the Browns last year, converting 17 of his 20 field goal attempts and 25 of his 29 extra point tries. Elsewhere, Nelson Jr. is in contention for one of the best first names in the league.
Panthers’ Dontari Poe Done For Season
3:14pm: Poe’s season will indeed end early. The veteran defensive tackle has elected to undergo surgery on his quad injury, according to ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson (on Twitter). The former first-round pick will undergo the procedure Tuesday morning.
12:53pm: The Panthers fear that Dontari Poe suffered a torn quadriceps muscle in Sunday’s loss to the Saints (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Poe is having an MRI to confirm the injury, but the club thinks they already know the result, which will end Poe’s season. 
The Panthers’ thin playoff hopes took a major blow on Sunday with the loss to New Orleans and it figures to be rough sledding the rest of the way without Poe, who was an anchor for the defensive line. Through eleven games (ten starts), Poe notched 4.0 sacks from the interior, plus 22 tackles and seven tackles for a loss. For his work, Pro Football Focus has Poe rated as the No. 40 interior defensive lineman in the league.
The Panthers can be expected to look into DT help between now and Sunday’s game against the Redskins. While they’re at it, they may also shake up the kicker spot by replacing Joey Slye with another leg.
Panthers Add K Greg Joseph To P-Squad
The Panthers have acquired competition for incumbent kicker Joey Slye. Former Browns kicker Greg Joseph is now on the Panthers’ practice squad, according to Joseph’s agent, Brett Tessler (Twitter link).
Slye missed a 28-yard field goal that would have given the Panthers a three-point lead in the fourth quarter of what became a three-point loss to the Saints on Sunday. Prior to that, Slye missed two extra points.
Carolina was pondering workouts and will go with Joseph, whose Browns tenure began after Zane Gonzalez‘s rough September 2018 day in New Orleans.
Joseph made 17 of 20 field goal tries last season, the Florida Atlantic alum’s only NFL work to date. Slye is now 19-for-26 on field goals and 22-for-26 on PATs. Carolina went with Slye, a rookie out of Virginia Tech, after longtime kicker Graham Gano landed on IR.
Panthers May Look At Kickers
Joey Slye might not be long for Carolina. The Panthers will discuss bringing in kickers to try out for the team, head coach Ron Rivera says (Twitter link via Joe Person of The Athletic).
Slye left five points on the scoreboard on Sunday as the Saints won by three points. Slye missed two extra point attempts, plus a potential game-winning 28-yard try. It was an extremely costly loss – the Panthers are now 5-6, with only a 1% chance of making the playoffs, per the New York Times‘ odds calculator.
In the longer term, Slye’s spot was already in jeopardy – Graham Gano, the Panthers’ longtime kicker, is slated to return next season. Recently, he vowed to comeback better than ever on social media, so Slye is probably going to be peddling his wares elsewhere in 2020 no matter what.
Unfortunately, the Panthers’ season is effectively over, regardless of what they do at the kicker spot. On Sunday, they’ll look to return to the .500 mark when they face the Redskins in D.C.
Panthers Waive S Rashaan Gaulden
The Panthers have waived safety Rashaan Gaulden, the team announced. Gaulden was a third-round pick in the 2018 draft, but he never cracked the starting lineup and saw most of his action as a special-teamer.
And when a special teams player makes an error on special teams, that player may not be long for the roster. In Sunday’s difficult loss to the Saints, Gaulden collided with punt returner D.J. Moore, which led to an early turnover, and he also picked up an unnecessary roughness penalty later in the game.
Plus, as Joe Person of The Athletic points out, Gaulden was never happy with his role on the team and left an August practice for reasons that went unexplained (Twitter link). And as Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic tweets, Gaulden has been a healthy scratch this year.
Given his draft pedigree and potential versatility, Gaulden should get an opportunity elsewhere, even if he goes unclaimed on waivers. He ends his Panthers career with 18 total tackles and a pass defensed.
Latest On Ron Rivera’s Future With Panthers
Panthers owner David Tepper recently spoke with the media about the state of his team, though he specifically told reporters that he would not answer questions about head coach Ron Rivera. However, the fact that Tepper held the impromptu session at all led some members of the organization wondering about Rivera’s future, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes.
Tepper was considering major changes last year, but he ultimately stuck with the status quo for 2019. The hedge fund billionaire purchased the club in 2018 and focused more on the business side of operations during his first year in charge, but he was clear about his desire to eventually become more involved in the football side. As such, 2019 was always going to be a defining year, and, in the wake of Carolina’s recent slump — including last week’s blowout loss to the 3-7 Falcons — Tepper is once again mulling a significant shakeup.
Rivera is under contract through 2020, though Tepper may be inclined to part ways in favor of a head coach with an offensive background and an analytics-based approach. Indeed, sources close to Tepper say that, barring a major turnaround, the owner is likely to make a change at season’s end.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link) confirms that the manner in which Rivera’s 5-5 Panthers close out the season will go a long way towards determining his future in Carolina. Regardless of whether or not Tepper fires Rivera, the team will have to figure out what to do with QB Cam Newton, though Tepper said that no decision would be made in that regard until Newton is fully healthy.
David Tepper On Cam Newton's Status
- In a state-of-the-union-style address, Panthers owner David Tepper asked that no Ron Rivera– or Marty Hurney-related questions be asked. The second-year owner said multiple times this week he will not accept mediocrity, via Joseph Person of The Athletic (subscription required). Carolina made the playoffs four times from 2013-17 but is 12-14 since. Tepper overhauled the Panthers’ business operations since taking over and considered making major football-ops changes after last season. Rivera is signed through the 2020 season. With Hurney also rehired as GMbefore Tepper took over, it is safe to assume both decision-makers’ jobs will be on the line over the season’s final six weeks.
- Tepper did discuss Cam Newton‘s status, indicating the quarterback’s foot injury would be factored into the overall evaluation of the team and that no decision will be made on Newton until he is healthy again. With that potentially being months away, teams interested in trading for the former MVP may have to adjust their offseason blueprints. Tepper added that ideally Newton would be back and lead the Panthers to another Super Bowl but did not guarantee the 30-year-old passer would return.
Latest On Colin Kaepernick Workout
Free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick completed one of the most unique workouts in NFL history this afternoon. The NFL offered to stage a workout for the quarterback earlier this week. However, Kaepernick’s team became weary of the league’s intentions when his representatives were refused in their requests to open the event to the public. In a last minute decision, Kaepernick’s representation moved the event from the Falcons facility to a public location on their own.
Here’s the latest on the workout and its aftermath:
- When the venue was changed, the NFL released a public statement on NFL.com that expressed they were “disappointed” with Kaepernick’s choice not to participate in the workout they had organized. They claimed “Twenty-five (25) clubs were present for the workout, and all 32 clubs, their head coaches, general managers, and other personnel executives would have received video footage of the interview and workout.” The league also felt the need to note they “made considerable effort to work cooperatively with Colin’s representatives,” among a list of other points that attempted to counter some narratives that the league had been purposely opaque in their negotiations.
- The league also tweeted out from the league’s official account a thread reiterating some main points from the press release. One key point from the league’s perspective, “Colin moved his workout to a facility an hour from Atlanta Falcons Flowery Branch facility. No one got a heads up until NFL saw the Twitter statement.”
- Former Raiders and Browns head coach Hue Jackson was scheduled to run the workout orchestrated by the NFL. However, while Kaepernick’s team invited Jackson to run the workout at the new venue, Jackson returned to the airport, according to Michael Silver of NFL.com.
- WR Bruce Ellington, WR Brice Butler, WR Jordan Veasy, TE/WR Ari Werts, and Panthers S Eric Reid were on the field with Kaepernick for the workout, according to Kaylee Harung of ABC News. The free-agent receivers were likely hoping to catch the eyes of scouts present to view Kaepernick, while Reid has been one of the most consistent advocated for Kaepernick in the league.
- One claim in the announcement made by Kaepernick’s representatives was that the league required he sign an agreement that included language to limit his ability to bring claims against the league. Of course, given Kaepernick’s previous collusion lawsuit against the league, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk argues the workout was a ploy by the league to put Kaepernick “in legal checkmate.”
- In the end, there were not nearly as many teams present at Kaepernick’s workout as the NFL claimed would have been present for the workout they had planned. The Washington football team, Eagles, 49ers, Chiefs, Jets, Titans, and Lions were the teams present for his workout, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.
- The 2-hour workout was streamed on YouTube and consistently maintained roughly 45,000 viewers. On the field, one NFL executive described Kaepernick’s arm talent as “elite” and on the same level as “when he came out of college,” according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
- Teams that had personnel present for the workout noted that the workout consisted of 60 throws and “Basically showed he’s the same guy he was,” according to Albert Breer of MMQB. After the workout, Kaepernick did not hold any formal interviews, but in his closing remarks said he would hold an interview with any team. He also thanked his fans for their support and reiterated, “I’ve been ready. I’m staying ready. And I’ll continue to be ready….The ball’s in their court. We’re ready to go.”