Four Teams Wanted Wendell Smallwood
Of all the players to hit the waiver wire over the weekend, Wendell Smallwood was the most popular. Before the former Eagles running back was ultimately grabbed by the Redskins, the Colts, Jaguars, and Bengals all placed claims on him, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter).
The Redskins quietly boast a deep running back group with redshirt rookie Derrius Guice, future Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson, pass-catching specialist Chris Thompson, Byron Marshall, and Smallwood. Fun fact: No Eagles RB had more rushing yards over the last three years than Smallwood.
He would have been a logical fit for the Colts, Jags, and Bengals as well. For the Bengals, Smallwood would have provided depth behind Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard in the wake of Rodney Anderson’s season-ending torn ACL. The Colts, meanwhile, only just got Jordan Wilkins back on the practice field and they still await Jonathan Williams‘ return. And the Jaguars, who just had to place Alfred Blue on IR, likely preferred Smallwood to Tyler Ervin and Devine Ozigbo, the two RBs they picked up on Sunday.
Colts To Meet With Brian Hoyer
The Colts, finally, might have their backup quarterback situation solved. The club will meet with quarterback Brian Hoyer, fresh off of his Saturday release from the Patriots (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero).
Hoyer is now the frontrunner to become the new backup to Jacoby Brissett, if the two sides can agree to terms, Pelissero hears. We heard earlier today that the Colts had interest, though the Patriots are also mulling a reunion.
The Colts, of course, were forced to promote Brissett to the starting job following Andrew Luck‘s surprise retirement. Chad Kelly is on hand, but he’ll be suspended to start the season. Phillip Walker was a candidate to serve as Brissett’s backup, but he was a victim of Saturday’s giant list of cuts.
Hoyer, a veteran journeyman, has started games for the Browns, Texans, Bears, and 49ers and has made other stops around the league. All in all, he’s got 37 starts to his credit across ten seasons.
Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC South
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC South 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 Colts, Jaguars, Texans and Titans are noted below.
Additionally, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads today. 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 AFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.
Houston Texans
- Signed:
Indianapolis Colts
- Claimed:
- CB Ryan Lewis
- Waived:
- CB Chris Milton
- Signed to practice squad:
- T Jackson Barton
- CB Jalen Collins
- WR Ashton Dulin
- G Jake Eldrenkamp
- LB Skai Moore
- QB Phillip Walker
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Claimed:
- TE Seth Devalve
- RB Tyler Ervin
- TE Matt Orzech
- RB Devine Ozigbo
- Placed on IR:
- RB Alfred Blue
- Released:
- LS Matt Overton
- Waived:
- TE Ben Koyack
- NT Eli Ankou
- Signed to practice squad:
- OL Ka’John Armstrong
- CB Tae Hayes
- RB Elijah Hood
- TE Charles Jones
- WR Michael Walker
- CB Brandon Watson
Tennessee Titans
- Signed to practice squad:
- DL Amani Bledsoe
- LB Ukeme Eligwe
- TE Parker Hesse
- WR Cody Hollister
- DB Kareem Orr
- LB Derick Roberson
- OL Aaron Stinnie
- WR Papi White
- QB Logan Woodside
Colts Host QB David Fales, Debating Options
The Colts are continuing their search for an additional quarterback. The team is bringing in former Bears, Dolphins, and Lions passer David Fales for a visit, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
In the wake of Andrew Luck‘s retirement and the waiving of Phillip Walker, the Colts have only Chad Kelly behind Jacoby Brissett. Kelly is suspended for the first two games of the season, meaning right now Brissett is the only available quarterback for Week 1. Speaking to the media today, Colts GM Chris Ballard said the team is still debating a couple of options, per Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). Ballard said Indy is still considering whether to sign a more established veteran who will be the team’s backup for all 16 weeks, or just signing a stopgap who will get them to Week 3 when Kelly can take over holding Brissett’s clipboard.
We heard earlier this afternoon that the Colts were interested in Brian Hoyer, and he’d likely be a 16-week option. The same could be said for the other guys they’ve shown interest in who have real regular season experience, like Brock Osweiler, Matt Cassel, and Brandon Weeden. If they’re just going with a two-week stopgap, someone like Fales would make sense. Fales was a sixth-round pick of the Bears back in 2014, and he’s never started a regular season game. His only significant live action came in Week 17 of the 2017 season with the Dolphins. A longtime pet-project of Adam Gase, Fales was cut by the Lions last week.
Colts, Pats, Others Interested In Brian Hoyer
Brian Hoyer is already gaining significant interest on the open market. Shortly after he was released by the Patriots, we heard that the Broncos were interested. Denver has since claimed Brandon Allen off waivers from the Rams, so it’s unclear if they’re still in the market for a backup quarterback.
Even if they’re out of the running, it doesn’t sound like Hoyer will have much trouble finding a new home. The Colts are “very interested” in the journeyman, a source told Dianna Russini of ESPN (Twitter link). It looks like they’ll face some competition for his services, as Adam Caplan of Sirius XM hears that at least six teams have expressed interest in the Michigan State product (Twitter link).
The Patriots are exploring the idea of bringing Hoyer back, Jeff Howe of The Athletic tweets. He has been their backup quarterback for the past 1 1/2 seasons.
The Colts are currently without any quarterbacks behind Jacoby Brissett on the active roster, so they need to sign somebody. Andrew Luck‘s sudden retirement left them with only Phillip Walker and Chad Kelly, and Walker was just cut while Kelly is suspended for the first two games of the season.
Indy hosted Brock Osweiler for a visit this past week, and they also worked out Matt Cassel and Brandon Weeden. They should be adding a passer in the next day or two. Hoyer has bounced around the league quite a bit since entering the league as an undrafted free agent all the way back in 2009. He has at various times been the starting quarterback for the Browns, Texans, Bears, and 49ers. All told, he’s started 37 games over the past ten seasons, and spent time with seven different teams. Hoyer is always capable of playing competently in a pinch, so the Colts’ interest makes sense.
Colts Reach Roster Max
The Colts reached the 53-man limit on Saturday by cutting a number of players, including running back Charcandrick West. West, who has been toggled on and off of the Chiefs’ roster in recent years, hooked on with the Colts less than two weeks ago. Despite the season-ending injury suffered by D’Onta Foreman, he wasn’t able to make the final cut.
Also among the cuts – J’Marcus Webb, one of the club’s Week 1 starting tackles in 2018. Webb’s season was mostly lost to injury, and he’ll have to hook on elsewhere for 2019.
Here’s the rest of the Colts’ moves:
Waived:
– S Micah Abernathy
– T Jackson Barton
– CB Jalen Collins
– WR Ashton Dulin
– G Jake Eldrenkam
– T Antonio Garcia
– DE Gerri Green
– DE Obum Gwacha
– K Cole Hedlund
– WR Krishawn Hogan
– CB Isaiah Langley
– WR Roger Lewis
– LB Skai Moore
– C Daniel Munyer
– DE Carroll Phillips
– DT Johnny Robinson
– DT Sterling Shippy
– G Nate Theaker
– S Jacob Thieneman
– WR Jordan Veasy
– QB Phillip Walker
– RB Aca’Cedric Ware
– RB Marquis Young
Waived/Injured:
– WR Penny Hart
– S Isaiah Johnson
– WR Marcus Johnson
– S Kai Nacu
– CB Shakial Taylor
– LB Ahmad Thomas
Released:
– TE Gabe Holmes
– DT Caraun Reid
– TE Ross Travis
Colts Trade OL Evan Boehm To Dolphins
The Dolphins are adding another interior offensive lineman. Only a couple hours after trading for guard Danny Isidora, Miami is now making a deal with Indianapolis to acquire center/guard Evan Boehm, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Per Schefter, it’s for a conditional pick in the 2020 draft. Boehm was originally drafted by the Cardinals in the fourth-round back in 2016. He was waived just prior to last season, and ended up latching on with the Colts. He appeared in 11 games for Indy, making four starts when normal center Ryan Kelly went down with an injury. In 2017, he started eight games at guard for Arizona, so he has a decent amount of starting experience.
The Dolphins have had interior line troubles for seemingly forever now, so it makes sense why they’re making these minor moves. Boehm has valuable versatility and it wouldn’t be at all surprising if he sees real playing time for Miami given the current state of their offensive line. The Missouri product also spent a brief amount of time on the Rams’ practice squad last year before the Colts signed him.
Colts, Texans, Browns Lead NFL In Cap Space
On Tuesday morning, the NFL released a report of every team’s cap space. The total number accounts for the top-51 cap numbers on every team’s roster. Therefore, these numbers will naturally change before next week as teams set their 53-man rosters (although the 52nd- and 53rd-ranked cap numbers (and beyond) for each team will hardly change anything).
It’s also worth noting that there have been a handful of extensions, trades, signings, and cuts since this report was released. However, there weren’t any significant moves that would drastically alter these rankings.
Why are these numbers important at this time of year? Well, rosters will be trimmed on Saturday, meaning an influx of players will hit the open market. While we can’t imagine any roster casualties earning a lucrative contract from a new team, these numbers can help illustrate the monetary advantage one organization has over another. These numbers are also useful in regards to any potential trades or extensions.
With help from TheMMQB.com’s Albert Breer on Twitter, we’ve listed the league’s cap space totals (as of Tuesday morning) below:
- Indianapolis Colts: $56.6MM
- Houston Texans: $37.0MM
- Cleveland Browns: $34.6MM
- Dallas Cowboys: $26.1MM
- Tennessee Titans: $26.0MM
- San Francisco 49ers: $25.5MM
- Buffalo Bills: $23.3MM
- Miami Dolphins: $22.1MM
- Chicago Bears: $22.1MM
- Washington Redskins: $21.7MM
- Detroit Lions: $21.5MM
- Kansas City Chiefs: $21MM
- Cincinnati Bengals: $19.7MM
- Seattle Seahawks: $19.5MM
- Philadelphia Eagles: $18.6MM
- Jacksonville Jaguars: $18.2MM
- Oakland Raiders: $17.3MM
- Los Angeles Chargers: $16.4MM
- Green Bay Packers: $15.2MM
- New York Jets: $14.9MM
- New England Patriots: $14.1MM
- Baltimore Ravens: $13.4MM
- New Orleans Saints $7.5MM
- Carolina Panthers $5.9MM
- Los Angeles Rams $5.6MM
- New York Giants $5.5MM
- Pittsburgh Steelers $4.9MM
- Minnesota Vikings $4.7MM
- Arizona Cardinals $4.7MM
- Denver Broncos $4.4MM
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers $4.3MM
- Atlanta Falcons $3.4MM
Colts Interested In QBs Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel
The Colts are leaving no stone unturned in their pursuit of quarterback help. In addition to Brock Osweiler, the Colts also met with and worked out Matt Cassel and Brandon Weeden, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. 
At this time, the Colts are still unsure about which QB they’ll sign. It’s also possible that Indy will wait to see how cuts shake out over Labor Day Weekend – there could be several experienced signal callers available from which to choose.
The Colts’ QB room, of course, was shaken up when Andrew Luck abruptly announced his retirement from the NFL. That left Jacoby Brissett, a solid QB in his own right, as the club’s new starter. For now, Chad Kelly stands as the team’s QB2, though his two-game suspension will require another passer to step in, at least as a stopgap solution.
Cassel, 37, spent last season as Matthew Stafford‘s backup in Detroit. He threw a grand total of 17 passes in 2018 and has made just two starts in the last three years.
Weeden, who will turn 36 in October, has split time with the Cowboys and Texans in recent years, though he did not take the field in 2016 or 2017. The former first-round pick has a career 6-19 record with most of those appearances coming with the Browns in his rookie season.
Colts Meet With Brock Osweiler
The Colts are on the lookout for quarterback help following Andrew Luck’s retirement. On that front, they met with free agent Brock Osweiler on Tuesday, a source tells Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). 
Osweiler, 29 in November, first made a name for himself as he filled in for Peyton Manning during the 2015 season. The QB went 5-2 in his starts that year and parlayed that showing into a four-year, $72MM deal with the Texans in 2016. After an interception-laden Year One, he was pawned off on the Browns, who then released him before the start of the 2017 season. That led him back to Denver for a year, then over to the Dolphins in 2018. Over the last two years, Osweiler owns a 2-7 record with nearly as many interceptions (nine) as touchdowns (eleven).
Osweiler’s resume is less than sterling, but the Colts view him as a potential candidate to hold the clipboard for new starter Jacoby Brissett.