Latest On Andrew Luck
- Andrew Luck‘s calf strain is still affecting his ability to practice. The Colts quarterback didn’t participate in practice sessions at all this week and will be re-evaluated on Saturday, per Mike Chappell of CBS 4 Indy, who notes Luck has appeared hesitant while throwing. “Just opening up a little bit,’’ Luck said. “It’s like, ‘I feel like something is going to yank, something is going to pull trying to change direction aggressively.’ That is something that you need to do to play football, you know? And I am not there yet.’’ Luck doesn’t believe his calf injury could lead to an Achilles issue.
Minor NFL Transactions: 7/30/19
Today’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Waived: OLB/DE Markus Jones
Buffalo Bills
- Retired: OL Isaac Asiata
Detroit Lions
- Signed: DT Frederick Jones
- Waived: WR Brandon Reilly
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: WR Roger Lewis, OG Ian Silberman
- Waived: LB Drew Lewis, OG William Poehls
New England Patriots
- Signed: OT Martez Ivey
- Waived/Injured: OL Cole Croston
New York Jets
- Signed: OL Ryan Anderson, CB Dee Delaney
- Waived: LB Jeff Allison, OL Toa Lobendahn
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Placed on IR: TE Troy Niklas
Jabaal Sheard To Miss Time
- Colts defensive end Jabaal Sheard suffered a knee injury in training camp and is expected to “miss some time,” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio writes. Just how long that “some time” is remains unclear, but the defensive end didn’t return to practice on Friday due to swelling and soreness. Colts head coach Frank Reich said the injury isn’t season-ending.
Minor NFL Transactions: 7/26/19
A batch of minor transactions on a busy day across the league:
Atlanta Falcons:
- Signed: LB Richie Brown
- Waived: OT Lanard Bonner
- Placed on IR: DL Michael Bennett
Denver Broncos
- Signed: WR Nick Williams
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: RB Corey Grant
Houston Texans
- Claimed off waivers from Saints: WR Chad Hansen
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: LB Drew Lewis
- Waived: LB Tre Thomas
Minnesota Vikings
- Placed on IR: DE Tashawn Bower (Achilles)
New England Patriots
- Signed: OL J.J. Dielman
Philadelphia Eagles
- Claimed off waivers from 49ers: CB Alex Brown
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: OL Dillon Day
- Released: DL Cedric Thornton
Injury Notes: Brown, Luck, Gore, Watt, Jones, Lawrence
Here’s the latest on all the injuries to big names as training camps get underway across the league:
- There was a brief uproar earlier when it was mysteriously announced that Antonio Brown would start camp on the Raiders’ non-football injury list. However, the as of now undisclosed issue that caused Brown to be placed on the NFI was described to Field Yates of ESPN as “very minor” (Twitter link). Further, Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune tweets that the Raiders have known of the injury for two weeks, and that Brown will probably only miss a week of camp time. Despite the initial panic, it doesn’t sound like this is anything you need to monitor going forward.
- Andrew Luck was sidelined by a calf injury during the Colts’ offseason program, which sparked some concerns about his Achilles. However, Luck told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network today “my Achilles is not at extra risk of anything. It’s fine” (Twitter link). In a separate tweet, Pelissero notes Luck participated in team drills today, and that his limited workload has only been precautionary.
- Speaking of the NFI, Bills GM Brandon Beane said that running back Frank Gore has been removed from it, per longtime Bills beat reporter Joe Buscaglia (Twitter link). Gore had been dealing with a minor injury, but has passed his physical and is cleared to practice. Gore will be competing for carries in a crowded Buffalo backfield that also features LeSean McCoy and rookie Devin Singletary.
- J.J. Watt started camp on the Texans’ PUP list, but he’s now been removed and cleared to practice, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Watt was limited to just eight combined games in 2016 and 2017 due to injuries, but he played a full 16-game slate last year. Watt wasn’t the only Texan to get cleared, as James Palmer of NFL Network tweets that DeAndre Hopkins was also cleared and activated from PUP.
- Byron Jones, DeMarcus Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford and Noah Brown will start camp on the PUP list for the Cowboys, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.com. Fortunately, Dallas is expecting all of them to be ready for the start of the season. Lawrence had offseason shoulder surgery, Jones had surgery on his hip, and Crawford is also dealing with a hip injury. Last we heard, there had been no progress in extension talks between the team and Jones.
Minor NFL Transactions: 7/24/19
Here are today’s minor moves, which feature a few recognizable names:
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: WR/RS Jaydon Mickens, G Norman Price, DL Bijhon Jackson
- Waived: RB Elijah Hood, G Ian Silberman, DT Elijah Qualls
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: QB Taryn Christion
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: C Daniel Munyer, RB Aca’Cedric Ware
- Waived: DE Dadi Nicolas, G Nico Siragusa
Kansas City Chiefs
- Released: TE Neal Sterling
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: RB Derrick Gore
Miami Dolphins
- Waived: LB Jayrone Elliott
New York Giants
- Claimed: WR Da’Mari Scott
- Released: CB Tony Lippett
- Signed: TE Isaiah Searight
- Waived: TE Eric Dungey
New York Jets
- Signed: TE Temuchin Hodges (formerly known as Bucky Hodges)
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: DL Damontre Moore
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: TE Troy Niklas
- Waived: WR Xavier Ubosi
Dolphins, Colts Work Out Matt Elam
The Dolphins and Colts worked out Matt Elam, according to Ben Volin of The Boston Globe (on Twitter). The former Ravens-first round pick auditioned for Miami on Monday and his Colts workout took place sometime before that. 
Elam, a former first round pick of the Ravens, hasn’t done a whole lot on the field. Elam struggled as a starter in his first two NFL seasons and he missed the entire 2015 campaign thanks to a biceps tear in training camp. Then, after losing much of 2016 to a knee injury, Elam showed very little in the nine games that he did appear in.
Elam is perhaps better known to football fans for his missteps off of the field. Elam’s was arrested in February 2017 when police say he was caught while holding 126 grams of marijuana and three grams of oxycodone. Then, in May, he was arrested for grand theft and battery. Eventually, Elam had all charges against him dropped and he has already served a six-game ban from the NFL as a free agent.
Across three seasons with the Ravens, Elam has 130 career tackles, 41 appearances, and 26 starts to his credit.
AFC Notes: Gordon, Colts, Ravens
The Patriots retained Josh Gordon‘s rights on via RFA tender, and the suspended wide receiver was spotted training with Tom Brady fairly recently. This does not mean the Patriots expect to have Gordon back. One of modern NFL history’s most unavailable players, Gordon is not in the Pats’ plans at this point, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com noted during a WEEI radio interview (via NBC Sports Boston). While the defending Super Bowl champions would welcome the 28-year-old talent back if he proved to be a “better version of himself” off the field than what showed up in New England last year, Rapoport adds he isn’t certain Gordon will receive another chance or if the mercurial standout would capitalize on it at this point. The Patriots made several receiver moves this offseason, drafting N’Keal Harry in Round 1 and signing Demaryius Thomas, Dontrelle Inman and Maurice Harris.
As the final offseason weekend (for several teams) progresses, here is the latest from the AFC:
- Deviating from their long-held ways in free agency, the Packers splurged on a pair of pass rushers this offseason in bringing in Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith. The latter Smith was on the Colts‘ radar. Despite holding the most cap space in the league entering free agency, the Colts let the market’s top pass rushers sign elsewhere before agreeing to terms with Chiefs cap casualty Justin Houston. But Chris Ballard targeted Preston Smith at free agency’s outset, Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star notes. Green Bay landed the former Washington edge player for four years and $52MM (just $16MM guaranteed). Houston, 30, nearly matched the 26-year-old’s guarantee figure, with $15.5MM, on his two-year, $23MM accord.
- Michael Pierce‘s offseason downtrend continued Saturday when the Ravens placed the nose tackle on their active/NFI list. In addition to the contract-year interior lineman starting camp with that designation, the Ravens placed offensive lineman Alex Lewis on their active/PUP list, Jeff Zreibec of The Athletic tweets. Pierce, who skipped Ravens OTAs after not signing his RFA tender until June, was overweight to the point of needing to be yanked from practice at minicamp. Lewis underwent offseason shoulder surgery. Both starters can be removed from these lists and return to practice at any point during camp.
- Broncos GM John Elway does not have near-future retirement plans, but the ninth-year executive is approaching his career year-by-year at this point.
Eagles T Tyreek Burwell Retires
Eagles offensive tackle Tyreek Burwell has announced his retirement, as the Cincinnati product announced himself on Instagram (h/t Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk). Burwell posted the following statement:
“Man it’s hard for me to sit here and put this into words but after careful consideration I’ve made the decision to retire from the NFL. This journey has been unbelievable! I’ve been blessed to have been able to play this game since I was 7 years old. Playing in the NFL has been a dream come true and this game has taught and given me so much.”
Burwell signed with the Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2015, and though he was a victim of final cutdowns in September of that year, he was signed to the club’s practice squad shortly thereafter. He ultimately suited up for nine games in his rookie campaign, and five more in 2016, seeing minimal snaps in both seasons.
He was waived by the Bolts in September 2017 and then joined the Colts’ practice squad. He played in one game for Indianapolis that year, the last time he would see regular season action.
The Colts cut him last September, and the Eagles signed him to a reserve/futures contract in January. He was obviously a long shot to make Philadelphia’s 53-man roster.
This Date In Transactions History: Dwight Freeney
The Colts formed a long-term pass-rushing partnership on this day 12 years ago, finalizing a landmark Dwight Freeney contract. After extending Robert Mathis in 2006, the Colts took care of their cornerstone defensive end the following summer.
On July 13, 2007, Indianapolis inked Freeney to a six-year, $72MM extension that, at the time, represented the biggest contract for a defender in NFL history. Freeney, then 27, received a $30MM signing bonus on a deal that was backloaded to soften the cap burdens in its first two seasons. Freeney’s $37MM-plus in three-year earnings usurped Richard Seymour‘s $28MM three-year figure, which had paced the defender market at the time.
The then-defending Super Bowl champion Colts, who had Mathis on a contract worth $30MM over five years, used their franchise tag on Freeney earlier that year. That tender in 2007 came in at $9.43MM. At this point, both Freeney and Mathis were locked up for the next four seasons together. While the latter ended up outlasting the former in Indianapolis, Freeney made a sizable impact over the course of his deal.
Although Freeney registered only 5.5 sacks during Indy’s Super Bowl title season, and just 3.5 in an injury-shortened ’07, the Syracuse alum rewarded the Colts in the late aughts and early 2010s. Freeney recorded 43.5 sacks from 2008-11, earning Pro Bowl recognition in each season. Equipped with some of the best speed (4.48 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the 2002 Combine) of any pass rusher in NFL history, the former No. 11 overall pick ended his Colts career with a then-franchise-record 107.5 sacks while also forcing 43 fumbles. He played in 17 playoff games (including two Super Bowls) with the franchise, adding nine more sacks in the postseason.
Freeney, who finished his 11-year Colts career with three first-team All-Pro honors, played out the contract before signing with the Chargers in 2013. He ended up playing for the Bolts, Cardinals, Falcons, Lions and Seahawks over the next five seasons, before retiring at age 38. Freeney (125.5 sacks) and Mathis (123) ended their careers adjacent to one another on the all-time sack list, in the Nos. 18 and 19 positions.