Minor NFL Transactions: 4/10/19
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Re-signed: TE Darrell Daniels (exclusive rights free agent), OL Jeremy Vujnovich (ERFA)
Buffalo Bills
- Re-signed: DE Eddie Yarbrough (ERFA)
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: DT T.J. Barnes, DT Destiny Vaeao
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: CB Tony McRae (ERFA), G Alex Redmond (ERFA)
Dallas Cowboys
- Waived: G Parker Ehinger, DT Aziz Shittu
Green Bay Packers
- Re-signed: TE Robert Tonyan (ERFA)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: S Cody Brown (AAF)
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: QB John Wolford (AAF)
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: LB Greer Martini (AAF)
New York Jets
- Signed: QB Brandon Silvers (AAF)
- Re-signed: DL Bronson Kaufusi (ERFA), LB Anthony Wint (ERFA)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: S Orion Stewart (AAF)
Bengals Notes: Polite, Sanders
- The Bengals met with Florida edge rusher Jachai Polite last week, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. The pre-draft process has not been kind to Polite, who had been viewed as a potential first-round selection. Polite performed poorly during athletic testing, while his interviews with clubs were also widely panned. Additionally, Polite is battling currently battling through hamstring injuries. Cincinnati has edge depth with Carlos Dunlap, Carl Lawson, Sam Hubbard, and Kerry Wynn in tow, but Polite would give the team another option.
- Penn State running back Miles Sanders has been vaulting up draft boards (he currently ranks one spot behind Collier at No. 46 on Jeremiah’s list), and he has a busy schedule ahead of him. Sanders is scheduled to work out for/meet with the Bears, Eagles, Steelers, Ravens, Bills, Cowboys, Falcons, Titans, Bengals, Panthers, Buccaneers, and Colts. In 2018, Sanders’ only season as a starter, he posted 1,274 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 220 attempts.
Bengals Meet With Rashan Gary
- Michigan defensive lineman Rashan Gary visited with the Bengals today and will visit the Giants later this week, reports NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). Gary is a consensus top-10 pick, and he could fall right into the Giants lap at No. 6. The Bengals currently have the 11th-overall pick, although we heard that the team could be interested in moving up. The lineman earned first-team All-Big 10 honors the past two seasons, and he finished his junior campaign with 3.5 sacks.
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Montez Sweat Visiting Bengals
- A sixth team scheduled a Montez Sweat summit. The Bengals brought in the Mississippi State-developed defensive end on Monday night, Alex Marvez of Sirius XM Radio tweets. He has already met with or is scheduled to visit the 49ers, Raiders, Bills, Packers and Bucs. Sweat blazed to a 4.41-second 40-yard dash at the Combine and seems likely to go off the board in the top 10.
- Staying on the subject of draft-eligible ends, Jaylon Ferguson‘s extensive April tour of NFL cities continues. Among the teams on his reported 22-visit tour: the Bills, Giants, Colts, Eagles, Cowboys, Titans and Rams, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). Ferguson met with the Bills on Monday; he will head southeast for his Giants powwow next. His visits with the Colts and Eagles are on tap for this week, with the Cowboys, Titans and Rams meetings are slated for next week. The Bucs and Bengals were already on the Louisiana Tech-produced pass rusher’s docket.
Draft Notes: Bush, Oliver, Gary
Michigan linebacker Devin Bush is meeting with the Giants tonight, and the visit will last until Monday, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. New York, armed with the Nos. 6 and 17 overall picks, will be one of the most interesting clubs to watch in the draft given the uncertainty surrounding its QB position. Despite that uncertainty, Big Blue could very well use both first-round selections on defensive playmakers, and Bush, one of the best LBs in the draft, would be a good fit with the 17th-overall selection.
Now for more draft rumblings from around the league:
- The Eagles have three picks in the first two rounds of the draft, and Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com expects the club to be very aggressive in trying to trade up. That will be especially true if Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver starts to fall, as Shorr-Parks believes Philadelphia will want to move up the draft board to land him. The team either has hosted, or will host, Oliver on an official visit.
- The Raiders recently met with Oliver and Penn State offensive lineman Connor McGovern, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Rapoport adds that the Colts have met with Michigan defensive end Rashan Gary.
- After losing out on Odell Beckham Jr., the 49ers still have a major need at the WR position. Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area believes there is a good chance the club uses its No. 36 overall pick on a wideout, and he names A.J. Brown and Deebo Samuel as legitimate possibilities. San Francisco either has hosted, or will host, both players.
- We learned several weeks ago that Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins would meet with five teams, including the Broncos and Redskins, and Rapoport tweets that those visits will take place this week. Denver and Washington are among the clubs doing their homework on all of this year’s top passers.
- The Bengals are reportedly considering using their No. 11 overall pick on a QB, and while Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com believes it is unlikely Cincinnati goes that route, she concedes it is a definite possibility (Twitter link).
Bengals Considering QB With First-Round Pick?
There has been talk around the league that the Bengals are considering drafting a QB with their first-round pick (No. 11 overall) in this month’s draft, per Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (via Twitter).
The Bengals have deployed Andy Dalton under center since 2011, but even though he is a three-time Pro Bowler, he has never been considered one of the best passers in the game. He is under contract through the 2020 season, though Cincinnati could release him without any dead money ramifications. We heard back in December that Dalton was almost certainly going to be back with the club in 2019, but in January, director of player personnel Duke Tobin left the door open for the team to draft a future replacement.
New head coach Zac Taylor, who served as the Rams’ quarterbacks coach in 2018 and whom the Bengals believe offers the same type of QB development ability as Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay, may be ready to find “his guy” in the draft and have him learn behind Dalton for a year.
It seems unlikely that the Bengals will be players for the top two signal-callers in the draft, Kyler Murray and Dwayne Haskins, who will probably be off the board by the time Cincinnati is on the clock with the No. 11 pick. The Bengals do have 11 picks in total this year, but the only round in which they have multiple selections is the sixth (they have five sixth-rounders), so if they want to trade up, they would likely have to dip into their 2020 draft capital.
But signal-callers like Drew Lock and Daniel Jones should be available to them if they want to go that route, and if Taylor believes in one of those players, the team may very well pull the trigger.
Bengals Waive RB Mark Walton
After being arrested for the third time in three months, running back Mark Walton has been let go by the Bengals. The team announced that they’ve waived the 2018 fourth-round pick.
“It’s important for our team to get off to a fresh start as we begin the 2019 season,” said new head coach Zac Taylor. “For that reason, we felt it best if we move forward without Mark Walton. We hope his situation gets resolved, but we don’t want to take anything away from the good work that so many other players have already begun to demonstrate.”
Earlier this week, Walton was cuffed on felony charges of carrying a concealed firearm, resisting an officer without violence, possession of marijuana, and reckless driving in connection with a high-speed chase in March. ESPN’s Katherine Terrell tweets that Walton surrendered to police yesterday. This comes on the heels of two other incidents – Walton was charged with misdemeanor battery after a February skirmish, and he was also arrested for marijuana possession in January.
As our own Zach Links pointed out, Walton seems very likely to face NFL discipline for his off-the-field incidents. This would presumably limit his ability to catch on with another team, at least for the time being.
Despite injuries, Walton showed some serious promise during his collegiate career, including a sophomore season in which he scored 14 touchdowns. However, during his rookie season in Cincy, he had just 14 carries for 34 yards as he played behind Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard.
Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes (on Twitter) that the team could now be searching for some depth at the position, especially considering the fact that Bernard is set to hit free agency after next season. The reporter points to Texas A&M running back Trayveon Williams as an option. Williams had previous success with Jim Turner, who is now the Bengals’ offensive line coach. The running back is expected to be a Day 2 selection.
Bengals To Meet With LB Josh Allen
While many draft pundits have expected Kentucky linebacker Josh Allen to land on a team with a top-five pick, it sounds like another organization may be looking to enter the picture. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that Allen is set to meet with the Bengals today.
As Rapoport notes, the Bengals currently have the 11th-overall pick, meaning the front office would presumably have to trade up for the edge rusher. We previously heard that Allen was set to meet with five teams, including the 49ers, Jets, Raiders, Giants and Lions. Each of those five teams are currently armed with a higher first-rounder than Cincy.
During Allen’s pro day, there were some whispers that the linebacker would ultimately be selected third-overall by the Jets. This would predictably limit the Bengals’ options. With Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray, Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa, and Allen generally regarded as the consensus top-three picks, Cincinnati would need some luck if they’re going to get their hands on the Kentucky linebacker.
Allen benefited from staying in school for his season year, registering 17 sacks this past season. He also finished the 2018 campaign with 56 tackles, five forced fumbles, and 21.5 tackles for loss.
The Bengals haven’t done a whole lot to improve their front-seven this offseason. Their lone move was signing free agent Kerry Wynn, who projects to be a backup defensive end. Allen’s versatility means he should eventually be able to play in multiple formations, and he could contribute immediately to the Bengals as either their strongside or weakside linebacker.
Bengals OL Trey Hopkins Signs RFA Tender
Bengals offensive lineman Trey Hopkins has signed his second-round restricted free agent tender, the club announced today. Hopkins will now be paid 3.095MM for the 2019 season.
Hopkins was one of 15 NFL restricted free agents to be tender at the second-round level, and he’s the fourth — following Steelers guard B.J. Finney, Broncos defensive tackle Shelby Harris, and Raiders cornerback Daryl Worley — to officially sign his tender. There was no rush for Hopkins to ink his tender, as RFAs have until April 19 to work out offer sheets with other clubs. However, it was always unlikely that any NFL team would have been willing to sacrifice a second-round pick in order to land Hopkins.
Hopkins joined the Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2014, but didn’t see regular action until the 2017 campaign. That year, Hopkins started 12 games at right guard that ranked among the NFL’s bottom-12 teams in both run- and pass-blocking, per Football Outsiders. He initially lost his starting job at the outset of the 2018 season, but eventually played nearly 60% of Cincinnati’s offensive snaps while seeing action all along the interior offensive line.
Although he earned a better grade from Pro Football Focus than rookie first-round center Billy Price, Hopkins isn’t expected to take over at the pivot in 2019. In fact, with Clint Boling installed at left guard and free agent addition John Miller taking over on the right side, Hopkins won’t have a starting role at all. Instead, he’ll serve as a valuable depth on a front five that will be tasked with protecting Andy Dalton and clearing lanes for Joe Mixon next season.
Bengals RB Mark Walton Arrested
Bengals running back Mark Walton has been arrested for the third time in three months, according to Miami-Dade court records. The former University of Miami standout was cuffed on felony charges of carrying a concealed firearm, resisting an officer without violence, possession of marijuana, and reckless driving in connection with a high-speed chase in March.
Walton, authorities say, was weaving in and out of traffic in his rented car. Eventually, Walton pulled over in the front yard of a home and initially complied with orders to fall to the ground. However, he quickly sprang up and took off running. Cops used a stun gun to try and subdue Walton, but he took off the prongs and fled the scene. When officers searched Walton’s car, they found 14 grams of marijuana, a 9 mm carbine rifle and several fully loaded clips.
This comes on the heels of two other incidents – Walton was charged with misdemeanor battery after a February skirmish with a neighbor was also arrested for marijuana possession in January. The 2018 fourth-round pick seems very likely to face NFL discipline for his off-the-field incidents and his future with the Bengals could be in jeopardy.
Despite injuries, showed serious promise with the Hurricanes, including a sophomore season in which he topped 1,100 yards on the ground and scored 14 touchdowns. Last year, however, he had just 14 carries for 34 yards as he played behind Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard.