Darnell Sankey

Saints Sign Six Players To Futures Deals

The Saints’ season is officially in the books, which means that it’s on to the offseason for New Orleans. To kick things off, the Saints signed the following six practice squad players to reserve/futures deals:

Barrett has been jockeyed on and off of the Saints’ practice squad all year. Over the weekend, Barrett was signed to the Saints’ taxi squad for the 13th time this season. In total, he was involved in a whopping 25 transactions during the 2018 campaign and was released 12 times. Barrett frequently switched placed with wide receiver Paul Turner, but there’s no word yet on whether Turner will be retained via a futures contract.

Sankey, 25 in October, appeared in six games for the Colts last season. This year, he did not see live action for the Saints, but he was on the scout team for most of the year.

Wozniak, a tight end at the University of Minnesota, was signed as a UDFA last year. The Saints moved the 6’10” prospect over to offensive tackle and they’re hoping he’ll be able to use his size and length to his advantage.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/19/18

Here are Wednesday’s practice squad updates:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Detroit Lions

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

Oakland Raiders

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

NFL Workout Updates: 9/18/18

Here’s the latest from the NFL workout circuit on a busy Tuesday. All links to NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted.

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Redskins

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/5/18

Here are Wednesday’s practice squad moves:

Detroit Lions

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Redskins

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC North

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC North 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 Bears, Lions, Packers, and Vikings are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. 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 North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Chicago Bears

Signed:

Cut:

Placed on injured reserve:

Detroit Lions

Claimed:

Cut:

Practice squad:

Green Bay Packers

Practice squad:

Minnesota Vikings

Claimed:

Cut:

Practice squad:

Lions Announce Roster Cuts

In addition to trading offensive tackle Corey Robinson to the Panthers, the Lions have also reduced their roster to 53 players.

Released:

Waived:

Placed on injured reserve:

Placed on PUP:

Waived from injured reserve:

With Rudock out of the picture, Matt Cassel will serve as the backup to quarterback Matthew Stafford. Freeny conceivably could have made the roster based on his familiarity with head coach Matt Patricia, but the Lions went in another direction.

Lions Sign LB Darnell Sankey

The Lions made a series of moves today, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (via Twitter). Besides making their signing of Ricky Jean-Francois official, the Lions also signed linebacker Darnell Sankey. To make room on the roster, the team has waived linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton and offensive lineman Beau Nunn.

Sankey, a 2016 undrafted free agent out of Sacramento State, has bounced around the league over the past two years. The six-foot-two, 250-pound linebacker has had stints with the Broncos, Raiders, Chiefs, Vikings, Colts, and Ravens. He ended up appearing in six games for Indy last season without compiling a tackle. He’ll joined a crowded Lions depth chart that already has Christian JonesJonathan Freeny, Cam Johnson, Trevor Bates, and Steve Longa competing for backup reps.

Benton, a former standout at West Virginia, signed with the Lions as an undrafted free agent back in May. Nunn, an Appalachian State product, also signed with Detroit as an undrafted free agent. With the offensive tackle off the roster, one of Corey Robinson, Brian MihalikAdam Bisnowaty, and Dan Skipper will presumably have a better shot of making the roster.

After meeting with the Lions yesterday, Jean-Francois inked a one-year deal with Detroit. The 31-year-old split last season between the Patriots and Packers, compiling seven total tackles.

Colts Waive RB Matt Jones

The Colts announced that they have waived running back Matt Jones. Linebackers Darnell Sankey and Jermaine Grace, wide receiver Justice Liggins, nose tackle Joey Mbu, and defensive end Arthur Miley were also waived while defensive tackle Johnathan Calvin was waived-injured. 

Jones was once primed to be the Redskins’ primary running back, but he slipped down the team’s depth chart over time. The Redskins waived Jones after they were unable find a trade partner for him, leading him to the Colts. He cycled between the Colts’ active roster and practice squad throughout last year, but the team has decided against keeping him on the expanded roster now that the draft has concluded.

The Colts selected NC State’s Nyheim Hines in the fourth round and Mississippi’s Jordan Wilkins in the fifth round, so there was little hope for Jones to make the final cut. Marlon Mack and Robert Turbin project to be the Colts’ lead rushers while Christine Michael and Josh Ferguson will battle alongside the two rookies for a place on the roster.

Jones, a 6’2″, 239-pound athlete, has played in 25 career games with seven starts. All in all, he has averaged 3.9 yards per carry with six rushing touchdowns.

Sankey appeared in six games for the Colts last year and spent time on the team’s practice squad. He wrapped up the year on the Ravens’ taxi squad, but circled back to the Colts for a futures deal in January.