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Colts To Waive Rodrigo Blankenship, Add Two Kickers To Practice Squad

By | at September 13, 2022 2:40 pm

Back after missing most of last season, Rodrigo Blankenship missed a crucial field goal that would have avoided the Colts’ first tie in 40 years. The team is now moving on from the third-year kicker.

Indianapolis is waiving Blankenship Tuesday, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). The team may be set to hold a pre-Week 2 practice competition. Chase McLaughlin and Lucas Havrisik are signing to the Colts’ practice squad, Pelissero adds (via Twitter). Former Jaguars Matthew Wright and Josh Lambo also worked out for the team Tuesday, per the Indianapolis Star’s Joel Erickson (Twitter links).

This will mark an Indiana return to Indianapolis for McLaughlin, whom the team used during part of the 2019 season. An an Adam Vinatieri injury brought in McLaughlin, who had already kicked in games for the Chargers and 49ers that year. McLaughlin finished the season with the Colts, who replaced him with Blankenship in 2020. McLaughlin went 5-for-6 on field goals with Indy in 2019. He was 15-for-21 in 16 Browns games last season. A UDFA rookie out of Arizona, Havrisik was the Wildcats’ kicker for most of the past five seasons. His two 57-yard makes in college double as the Pac-12 program’s record. Havrisik also participated in the Colts’ rookie minicamp this year.

In addition to his 42-yard overtime miss, Blankenship sent two kickoffs — his final regulation kick and the overtime opener — out of bounds. The Texans scored on neither of the ensuing drives, but some with the Colts were more frustrated with those sequences than the OT field goal miss, The Athletic’s Zak Keefer tweets.

Blankenship has not been the Colts’ primary kickoff man for most of his career. Longtime punter Rigoberto Sanchez handled those duties when available. The latter going down during a training camp practice led to the Colts signing Matt Haack but using their kicker as their kickoff man in Week 1.

Last season, the Colts placed Blankenship on IR — after his injury in Baltimore contributed to a Monday-night collapse — and used Michael Badgley as their kicker in the final 12 games. The team did not bring Badgley to training camp, however, with Keefer adding it viewed rookie UDFA Jake Verity as the higher-upside choice (Twitter link). The Colts waived Verity as they moved their roster to 53.

A former four-year Georgia Bulldogs kicker, Blankenship signed with the Colts as a 2020 UDFA. Blankenship made 87% of his field goals as a rookie, though he was 1-for-3 from beyond 50 yards. This will be the third time in four seasons the Colts will have needed to make an in-season kicker switch. Vinatieri’s early-season struggles in 2019 led to a late-season surgery, beginning the stretch of uncertainty. Prior to that, the most notable in-season kicker change the Colts had made occurred back in 2009, when a Vinatieri injury prompted the eventual AFC champions to sign Matt Stover. Excepting the Stover year, the Colts used two kickers from 1998-2010 — Mike Vanderjagt and Vinatieri.

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Steelers’ T.J. Watt Will Not Require Surgery

By | at September 13, 2022 1:51 pm

The best-case scenario has been confirmed with respect to T.J. Watt. The Steelers’ top defender will not require surgery, and he will begin the rehab process which should keep him sidelined for roughly six weeks, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports (on Twitter). 

Watt suffered a torn pectoral muscle, as was initially feared. However, as Rapoport details, the tendon was not torn, leaving rehab as an alternative to what would have likely been season-ending surgery. By taking the former route, Watt will be able to return at some point relatively soon, as he confirmed (on Twitter) this afternoon.

The reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Watt’s absence will still be felt, of course. Pittsburgh will turn to 2020 third-rounder Alex Highsmith and recent trade acquisition Malik Reed as starters on the edge. Not surprisingly, the team has already taken steps to add depth at the position, though.

The Steelers signed Ryan Anderson to the practice squad, per Rapoport’s colleague Tom Pelissero (Twitter link). A former second-round pick, the 28-year-old never lived up to his draft stock during his four seasons in Washington, with his best career season coming in 2019 (44 tackles, four sacks, five forced fumbles). He initially signed with the Giants last offseason, but was cut in August and did not see any action in 2021.

Anderson could see himself elevated on gamedays; the Steelers are also likely to be active in searching for more depth options on the open market. It remains to be seen if Watt will be placed on IR to open a roster spot, but the fact that he will return around the midway mark of the season is a hugely positive development for the Steelers’ 2022 aspirations.

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With K Harrison Butker Ailing, Chiefs Sign Kicker To Practice Squad

By | at September 12, 2022 9:00 pm

Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is dealing with an ankle injury from the team’s season opener. He returned to the game later on, but the injury may be more serious than initially thought as Kansas City opted to add former Jets kicker Matt Ammendola to their practice squad tonight, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. 

Butker slipped on the kickoff following the Kansas City’s opening scoring drive yesterday and limped off the field with a hurt ankle. The Chiefs trotted out safety Justin Reid for the next two extra point attempts, which he split one for two. After Reid’s missed extra point attempt, the Chiefs brought Butker back for field goals and extra points, but kept Reid as the kickoff specialist.

Seeing Butker’s return inspired hope that his injury was not too serious, but today’s signing hints that there might be reason to worry. Ammendola was the winner of what was a kicking contest between several free agents today, according to another tweet from Pelissero. He beat out Elliott Fry, Chase McLaughlin, Cody Parkey, Tristan Vizcaino, and rookie Cameron Dicker.

Ammendola went undrafted two years ago out of Oklahoma State. He eventually spent a few months in the offseason leading up to the 2021 season with the Panthers before signing with the Jets. He made his NFL debut in New York, playing in 11 games. Ammendola was perfect from within 40 yards, going 11 for 11, but struggled from a distance going two for eight on kicks longer than 40 yards, including missing all three kicks from over 50 yards. He was mostly reliable on extra points, though, converting 14 of his 15 attempts. He also served double-duty doing kickoffs and punts for the Jets.

It’s not a foregone conclusion that Ammendola is kicking for the Chiefs this week, but placing him on the practice squad allows the Chiefs to call him up on a day’s notice if Butker is not feeling 100-percent leading up to the team’s Thursday night matchup against the Chargers.

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NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/12/22

By | at September 12, 2022 7:41 pm

Today’s practice squad moves from around the NFL:

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Tennessee Titans

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Minor NFL Transactions: 9/12/22

By | at September 12, 2022 6:53 pm

Here are Monday’s minor moves:

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Los Angeles Chargers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Robinson has been mostly a rotational defensive end with the Seahawks, but the Syracuse product has five sacks in his two seasons. Robinson suffered a knee injury in Seattle’s preseason finale. He can return after four games, though teams only have eight IR-return slots — way up from the pre-COVID NFL but down from the 2020 and ’21 unlimited IR-return setup — this season.

The Seahawks will be without their primary long snapper, Tyler Ott, on Monday night. Ott is out with a shoulder injury. Tinker has been an NFL snapper since 2013, and the veteran specialist has experience with Seahawks kicker Jason Myers. The duo played together in Jacksonville during the mid-2010s.

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Raiders Place CB Anthony Averett On IR, Claim CB Javelin Guidry

By | at September 12, 2022 5:20 pm

Javelin Guidry has now ventured to both teams involved in last month’s Trayvon Mullen trade. The Cardinals claimed the young cornerback off waivers from the Jets after roster-cutdown day but waived him ahead of their Week 1 game. Guidry has since found a third 2022 employer.

The Raiders claimed Guidry off waivers Monday, but the addition comes after the team lost one of its starters to injury. Las Vegas placed cornerback Anthony Averett on IR. This transaction knocks Averett out for at least four games.

Averett suffered a broken right thumb against the Chargers, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The IR timetable lines up with Averett’s expected recovery timeline, with the former Ravens defender expected to be ready to return in around a month.

The Raiders have been impressed with Averett, to the point they felt comfortable unloading Mullen — a former second-round pick and three-season starter for the team — before setting their roster. The Raiders were planning to waive Mullen had the Cardinals not stepped in with a trade proposal. Averett entered the season alongside Rock Ya-Sin and Nate Hobbs as the Raiders’ top corners. The Raiders have Amik Robertson as a backup option, but the team is expected to add veteran slot defender Nickell Robey-Coleman on Monday as well. The Robey-Coleman signing, however, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets.

A 14-game Ravens starter last season — one that saw Baltimore go the full campaign without Marcus Peters — Averett signed a one-year deal worth $4MM in March. The Raiders are guaranteeing the former fourth-round Ravens draftee $3.34MM. He played 34 defensive snaps Sunday, prior to going down with the thumb ailment.

This Raiders move denied the Cardinals a chance to pass Guidry through to their practice squad. A former sprinter who finished sixth in the 60-meter dash at the 2019 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, Guidry spent two seasons with the Jets. Guidry played 486 defensive snaps last season, spending time both outside and in the slot with the Jets. A Utah alum, Guidry is credited with forcing an four fumbles as a rookie in 2020.

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Raiders, TE Darren Waller Agree To Extension

By | at September 11, 2022 11:52 am

SEPTEMBER 11: Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network offers some insight on Waller’s new deal (Twitter link). Waller will earn roughly $10MM more over the next two years than he would have under his old contract, which jibes with OverTheCap.com’s breakdown. Per OTC, Waller will earn $11MM in base pay in 2022 and ’23, a $4MM raise over the $7MM payouts he was previously scheduled to take home in those two seasons. Combine that base salary with the $1.275MM in per-game roster bonuses that Waller can earn, and we arrive at the $10MM increase that Pelissero references.

The new contract also comes with $250K Pro Bowl incentives in each year of the deal.

SEPTEMBER 10: The long-anticipated new deal between the Raiders and tight end Darren Waller has been finalized. Waller is signing a three-year extension which includes $51MM in new money, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). The team has since confirmed the deal. 

The Pro Bowler had two years remaining on his existing deal, but for months has been considered a prime extension candidate. He was set to earn $7MM in non-guaranteed money this season and next, and will likely now have considerable security. In all, he is tied to the Raiders for the next five years at a total cost of $66.25MM.

That $13.25MM-per-year overall average will move Waller into sixth in the league in terms of overall compensation at the position. The tight end market was altered this offseason by David Njoku‘s deal with the Browns, one which Waller was expected to eclipse in value. His age (30 next week) and injury history, on the other hand, represented a potential disincentive on the Raiders’ part to make a commitment such as this.

The possibility of Las Vegas – now led by general manager Dave Ziegler – waiting one more year to finalize an extension seemed quite real earlier this summer. That would have come as a notable decision, given the team’s substantial investments made earlier this offseason in Derek Carr, Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow. Things began to change once Waller took steps to accelerate the negotiating process.

The former sixth-rounder changed agents recently, taking on Drew Rosenhaus as his new representative. Not long after that move, it was reported that an extension could be just days away. Now, on the eve of the season, both sides have indeed finished this important business.

“This was one of the most challenging negotiations I’ve encountered,” Rosenhaus said. “It is very rare for a 30-year old player with two years left on his contract to get a new deal” (Twitter link via Schefter).

With his long-term future no longer in doubt, Waller will look to return to his 1,000-yard form after being limited to 11 contests in 2021. He will face significant competition for targets after the arrival of Adams, but he has shown himself capable of being the focal point of the Raiders’ passing attack. The former Raven has gone from a failed receiving prospect met with multiple suspensions — one for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, one for violating the PED policy — to one of the league’s highest-paid tight ends.

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Colts, G Quenton Nelson Agree To Four-Year Extension

By | at September 10, 2022 10:44 pm

The Colts were able to sneak in just under the buzzer, avoiding playing Pro Bowl guard Quenton Nelson this year on the final year of his rookie contract. Nelson and the Colts agreed to a “precedent-setting” four-year, $80MM extension that will include $60MM guaranteed, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

This demolishes the ceiling atop the guard market. Brandon Scherff‘s $16.5MM-per-year Jaguars deal previously held the high-water mark, but Nelson is now on his own tier at the position.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk provides a detailed breakdown, noting that $41MM is guaranteed at signing. That includes a $31MM signing bonus and fully-guaranteed base salaries of $4MM and $6MM in 2022 and ’23, respectively. But it is all but certain that Nelson will hit the $60MM in guarantees that Schefter reported, as an additional $19MM is guaranteed for injury now and becomes fully-guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2023 league year.

The Colts had extended fellow offensive linemen Ryan Kelly and Braden Smith in the last couple of years, so Nelson was, naturally, next in line. General manager Chris Ballard absolutely loves the 26-year-old, calling him a Hall of Fame left guard at times and crediting Nelson as a huge contributor to the success of running back Jonathan Taylor.

Ballard is not off-base at all in his assessment. Since being drafted sixth-overall in 2018, Nelson has been named a first-team All-Pro in every year except last season (when he was named a second-team All-Pro) and has yet to miss being nominated for a Pro Bowl. With just four seasons under his belt, Nelson has the most total All-Pro selections by a guard in franchise history for the Colts and is just the second player in team history to make the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons.

The dependable lineman hadn’t missed a game in his NFL career until he sat out of four contests last season (perhaps the reason he was demoted to only second-team All-Pro). A high ankle sprain caused him to miss three games and he missed a fourth game on the reserve/COVID-19 list later on in the year.

On the point of his health, the Notre Dame alum recently said, “I feel great, no surgeries this offseason. It was just a chance to really work on my body… gaining more range of motion in my joints, more flexibility.”

Talks of reaching an agreement before the start of the regular season were not sounding promising in mid-August, but the eventual deal was considered a “foregone conclusion.” Now the deal is done, and Nelson is the highest-paid guard in NFL history. Nelson is well worth the money and will look to continue his dominant play against the Texans tomorrow.

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Minor NFL Transactions: 9/10/22

By | at September 10, 2022 7:20 pm

Today’s minor moves around the league, as teams prepare for the first Sunday slate of regular season games:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

The Cardinals’ moves come as a reaction to yesterday’s injury news. Baccellia’s roster spot was opened up in the short-term by the injury to Rondale Moore, but he won’t simply be a stop-gap. Arizona signed the 25-year-old to a two-year deal to remain on the main roster, per Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network (Twitter link). A UDFA out of Washington, Baccellia has yet to make a regular season NFL appearance.

Likewise, the fact that Ford will miss at least the first four weeks of the season makes the re-acquisition of Garcia a logical one. The former fourth-rounder has plenty of guard experience, including his three seasons spent in Arizona. It was only in 2021 that he logged any starts, but he could provide veteran depth behind Justin Pugh at least until Ford is able to return.

Addison, 35, was one of several veteran signings the Texans made this offseason to add depth to their front seven. He had a productive season with the Bills last season, notching seven sacks despite not starting any games. In his absence, Harris and Pierre-Louis will provide depth in the edge rush department on Sunday, and likely the short-term future as well.

Quick reminder that standard game day practice squad promotions are a recent development from the new CBA and COVID-19 seasons. Essentially, each team is able to promote two players from the practice squad to the active roster for game days. The players will automatically revert back to the practice squad after the game, not needing to clear waivers before rejoining the developmental roster. A player can only be promoted three times per season. If a team would like to promote a player for a fourth game, they’ll need to go through the normal method of creating space on the 53-man roster to promote them and have them clear waivers before placing them back on the practice squad. That is the difference between “Signed to 53-man roster” from the practice squad and “Promoted from practice squad.”

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