Jah Reid

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/10/17

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cleveland Browns

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

  • Promoted to active roster: WR Ed Eagan

Oakland Raiders

San Francisco 49ers

Extra Points: Browns, Saints, Packers, Eagles

Now playing in his contract season, Browns running back Isaiah Crowell indicated he thinks about a new deal “during the game, after the game, before the game, right now, all the time,” as Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com tweets. A restricted free agent, Crowell is earning $2.746MM after Cleveland tendered him at the second-round level. The Browns reportedly discussed an extension with the 24-year-old back during the summer, but no pact was ever signed. Thus far in 2017, Crowell is averaging just 2.6 yards per carry on 27 rushes.

  • Saints cornerback Sterling Moore suffered a pectoral injury against the Patriots on Sunday, a source tells Nick Underhill of the Adovcate, but it’s not a season-ending issue, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, who adds Moore should miss “just a few weeks.” Moore, who re-signed with New Orelans this spring on a one-year, $900K pact, played 36 defensive snaps as the Saints’ nickel corner in Week 2. Perhaps with Moore’s injury in mind, the Saints worked out two cornerbacks on Tuesday and signed another — defensive back Bradley Sylve — to their practice squad.
  • Ahmad Brooks will have to post an excellent season in order to collect the entirety of his $1.5MM incentive-based pay attached to his one-year Packers contract, as Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports the veteran linebacker must reach 11 sacks to earn that total. However, Brooks can also bring in money for 6.5 sacks ($250K), 7.5 sacks ($500K), 8.5 sacks ($750K), 9.5 sacks ($1MM), or 10.5 sacks ($1.25MM). For what it’s worth, Brooks has never recorded an 11-sack season, and he managed only six quarterback takedowns a season ago.
  • Offensive lineman Jah Reid‘s one-year deal with the Texans is worth the veteran’s minimum of $775K, reports Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). While the contract doesn’t qualify as a minimum salary benefit deal, Houston will only owe Reid a 14-game prorated portion of the minimum salary (~$684K). Reid should be able to immediately help a ramshackle Texans offensive line that is missing stalwart left tackle Duane Brown and ranks dead last in adjusted sack rate.
  • The Eagles attempted to sign defensive back DeAndre Houston-Carson off the Bears‘ practice squad, but Chicago promoted Houston-Carson to its active roster instead, reports Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). Houston-Carson, 24, appeared in eight games for the Bears a season ago, but rarely played on defense (just eight snaps). Instead, he spent most of his time on special teams, where he played on a quarter of Chicago’s snaps.

Texans Sign OT Jah Reid

Jah Reid has found a new home. According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter), the veteran offensive tackle has signed with the Texans. The 29-year-old worked out for the organization yesterday, and he previously auditioned for the Colts and Jets. Reid was released by the Chiefs in late August.

Jah ReidThe 2011 third-round pick had spent the first four seasons of his career with the Ravens before joining the Chiefs prior to the 2015 season. In two years with Kansas City, Reid ultimately appeared in 22 games with 11 starts. The Chiefs acquired lineman Cameron Erving prior to the regular season, and that led to their decision to release Reid. The move ultimately saved the Chiefs $2.78MM and $3.2MM in 2018.

The Texans offensive line has struggled through the team’s first two games, having allowed 13 total sacks. With Duane Brown currently holding out and Derek Newton sitting on the Reserve/PUP list, it was fairly obvious that the organization could use some reinforcement on the offensive line. Breno Giacomini and Kendall Lamm are currently the team’s starters at offensive tackle, and the team is also rostering Chris Clark and rookie Julie’n Davenport. Reid also has experience playing offensive guard, and his versatility could make him an ideal reserve piece for the Texans.

Texans Work Out 8, Sign Cobi Hamilton

Fresh off their first win of the season, the Texans worked out a variety of offensive players on Friday, including the previously reported Gary Barnidge, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter links). Fellow tight ends Larry Donnell, Gavin Escobar, David Johnson and MyCole Pruitt joined Barnidge in auditioning, while wide receivers Cobi Hamilton and Jordan, offensive lineman Jah Reid and quarterback Garrett Grayson were also on hand. The Texans saw enough from Hamilton to sign him to their practice squad, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

Houston has an obvious need at tight end, with C.J. Fiedorowicz, Ryan Griffin and Stephen Anderson dealing with the aftereffects of concussions. Fiedorowicz is on injured reserve, meaning he’ll miss a significant chunk of time, while neither Griffin nor Anderson dressed for the Texans’ 13-9 win over the Bengals on Thursday. As you’d expect, the tight end position was a non-factor for Houston against Cincinnati, as all 15 of quarterback Deshaun Watson‘s completions went to wide receivers and running backs.

Larry Donnell (vertical)

All of the tight ends the Texans looked at Friday come with NFL experience, though only Donnell and Escobar have extensive pro track records. Donnell had a 63-catch, six-touchdown season with the Giants in 2014, but his production has gone downhill since, thanks in part to injuries, and he hasn’t stuck anywhere since becoming a free agent in the offseason. The 28-year-old’s only employment since last season ended came in the form of a short stint in Baltimore, which signed him July 30 and released him Sept. 1.

Escobar, meanwhile, was a high pick in 2013, when Dallas took him in the second round, but he didn’t make much of a mark there behind all-time great Jason Witten. The 26-year-old, who caught 30 passes and eight TDs during his four-year Cowboys run, signed with the Chiefs as a free agent in March but didn’t crack their Week 1 roster.

Reid was a teammate of Escobar’s for a brief period in Kansas City, which released the tackle/guard on the final day of August. A veteran of 61 appearances and 18 starts, he’d provide depth along a Houston line that’s without its left tackle, holdout Duane Brown, and has already yielded 13 sacks in two weeks.

The other fairly notable player on this list is the Texans’ newest addition, Hamilton, who had been looking for work since the Steelers cut him Sept. 1. The Texans are already the sixth organization for the 26-year-old Hamilton, who’s coming off a career season (albeit a modest one) in Pittsburgh. Hamilton started in eight of 11 appearances and caught 17 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns. He added another four receptions and a TD in three playoff games last January.

As is the case at tight end, Houston’s receivers aren’t the picture of health. Both Bruce Ellington and Will Fuller missed Thursday’s game with injuries (the latter will be out until the fall), leaving the Texans wanting at wideout. Believe it or not, DeAndre Hopkins and Braxton Miller are their only receivers who have caught passes this season. Hamilton could be a factor sometime this year, then.

NFL Workout Updates: 9/13/17

Today’s workout updates, with nearly all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account:

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee Titans

Washington Redskins

Jets Audition TE Gavin Escobar, OL Jah Reid

The Jets worked out tight end Gavin Escobar, running back Juwan Thompson, and offensive lineman Jah Reid, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (Twitter link) and Brian Costello of the New York Post (Twitter link).Gavin Escobar (vertical)

[RELATED: Jets Sign WR Jeremy Kerley]

New York has been focusing extensively on tight ends in the past few days, as the club first claimed former Giant Will Tye off waivers before working out free agent Tim Wright, formerly of the Lions. Escobar, 26, never lived up his to second-round draft status, as he managed only 30 receptions and 333 yards over four seasons with the Cowboys. He inked a minimum salary benefit contract with the Chiefs in March, but was part of the club’s final cutdowns on Saturday.

Like Escobar, Thompson was cut over the weekend, as the Broncos handed him his walking papers after three seasons. The 25-year-old Thompson has never been much of an offensive contributor, and he rushed the ball a career-low eight times in 2016. The Jets have a pair of veterans leading their running back depth chart in Matt Forte and Bilal Powell, while rookie Elijah McGuire brings up the rear.

Reid, 29, is perhaps the best fit for the Jets’ current roster, as Gang Green is fielding one of the league’s worst offensive lines. Released by the Chiefs at the tail end of August, Reid has experience at both tackle and guard and 61 career appearances (18 starts) under his belt.

Chiefs Release Jah Reid

The Chiefs have released offensive lineman Jah Reid, according to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link).

Jah Reid

The 29-year-old Reid became expendable with the addition of fellow O-lineman Cameron Erving, whom the Chiefs acquired from the Browns on Wednesday. Reid, a six-year veteran who has been a Raven for the majority of his career, spent the previous two seasons with the Chiefs and started in 11 of 22 appearances while playing both tackle and guard. He came off the bench in all but one of his 12 games last season and earned a less-than-stellar performance review from Pro Football Focus.

Releasing Reid saves the Chiefs $2.78MM of his $3.56MM cap number this season. Reid was under contract through next year via the extension he signed late in 2015, so cutting him also frees up $3.2MM in 2018 (against $775K in dead money). On the field, Reid’s exit leaves Erving as the top backup to starting tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz, while Isaiah Battle and Jordan Devey represent a couple of the Chiefs’ other bookend options.

AFC Notes: Blackmon, Miller, Browns, Reid

As detailed on the website for the Carter County Sheriff’s Office, Jaguars wide receiver Justin Blackmon was arrested once again this weekend, charged with driving under the influence. It’s the latest off-field incident for Blackmon, who remains suspended indefinitely — even though he’s technically still under contract with the Jaguars, the team has expressed skepticism that he’ll ever play football again, and his latest run-in with the law likely ensures that he won’t be reinstated anytime soon.

Here’s more from around the AFC:

  • Dolphins running back Lamar Miller took a back seat to rookie Jay Ajayi in terms of plays and touches on Sunday, and he isn’t thrilled with his decreased role, as Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post details. With Miller nearing free agency, it’s hard to imagine him re-signing with Miami, as the team seems to be preparing Ajayi for a bigger role in 2016.
  • Browns tight end Gary Barnidge, recently extended by the team, would like to see Cleveland’s coaching staff remain intact for the 2016 season, and other players – including some speaking off the record – are saying the same thing, tweets Jeff Schudel of the Morning-Journal. Whether or not that will have any impact on the Browns’ end-of-season decisions remains to be seen.
  • Browns guard John Greco has sustained an MCL injury that won’t require surgery, but will sideline him for the last two games of the season, head coach Mike Pettine said today (Twitter link via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com). The team figures to send Greco to IR to open up a roster spot.
  • Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (all Twitter links) provides some specific details on Jah Reid‘s extension with the Chiefs, reporting that the three-year, $11.371MM deal includes a $3.1MM signing bonus , and cap figures of $1.825MM, $3.625MM, and $3.975MM from 2016 through 2018. Reid’s 2016 salary ($860K) becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the ’16 league year.
  • A pair of players – Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith and Broncos safety David Bruton – played through injuries on Sunday, with Smith separating his right shoulder and dislocating a finger on his left hand, while Bruton, incredibly, played through a broken fibula (Twitter links via John Oehser of Jaguars.com and Lindsay Jones of USA Today). It’s not clear whether either player will return to the field this season — Bruton said he was told he’d have a recovery time of four to six weeks (Twitter link via Jones).

Chiefs To Extend OT Jah Reid

1:34pm: Reid’s three-year extension can be worth up to $12MM, with a $10.2MM base value, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Rapoport adds that the contract features just under $4MM in guaranteed money.

12:37pm: The Chiefs have agreed to a deal with offensive tackle Jah Reid that will extend the lineman’s contract by three years, reports Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (Twitter link). Reid’s contract had been set to expire at the end of the 2015 season.

Reid, 27, was selected by the Ravens in the third round of the 2011 draft, but never found a permanent role in Baltimore. Over the course of four seasons with the club, he appeared in 39 games, starting seven, before being cut earlier this year. The Chiefs signed Reid prior to the regular season, and he has been unexpectedly effective in Kansas City, starting eight games for the team — the Chiefs are 7-1 in those games.

“Jah has been a good pickup for us, just from the stand point of we got banged up up front there, and so he was thrown in, kind of, in the action his first week here against the Texans,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said this week, per Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. “A couple games after that, he played, and then he had a little hiatus there, where he didn’t play; and we’ve had to bring him back here. So, he has been very valuable to us from that respect.”

Pro Football Focus hasn’t been particularly fond of Reid’s play, ranking him 71st out of 75 qualified offensive tackles this season, giving him an especially low grade as a pass blocker. However, the Chiefs liked what they’ve seen enough to ensure the UCF product doesn’t reach the free agent market this winter.

We’ll have to wait for the full salary details on the new three-year extension, which should keep Reid under team control through 2018, to see exactly how enthusiastic Kansas City is about his performance — it’s not clear if the team views him as a long-term starter, or as more of a swing tackle. Even a modest deal will represent a raise for Reid though, since he played this season on a minimum salary contract that didn’t include a signing bonus.

Chiefs Sign Jah Reid, Cut Josh Martin

MONDAY, 3:46pm: The Chiefs have confirmed the signing of Reid, announcing that they’ve cut linebacker Josh Martin in the corresponding roster move.

SUNDAY, 6:55pm: The Chiefs have made a move to bolster their offensive line depth, as they’ve agreed to sign offensive lineman Jah Reid, a source tells Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link). Reid was cut by the Ravens yesterday, but since he wasn’t a vested veteran, he had to pass through waivers before finding a new home.

The 27-year-old Reid was selected by Baltimore in the third round of the 2011 draft, but despite his draft pedigree, he never became a full-time starter along the Ravens’ offensive line. In his four seasons with the club, he started only seven contests, all of which came during the 2012 season. Last season, Reid appeared in only four games, seeing time on just 10 offensive snaps.

Reid is capable of playing tackle and guard, so he’ll act as a depth piece behind Donald Stephenson, Ben Grubbs, Eric Fisher, and others in Kansas City. The Chiefs will have to make a corresponding move to clear a roster spot for Reid.