John Battle

Steelers Make Trio Of Moves In Secondary

The Steelers made a trio of moves in their secondary as we head into the weekend. Pittsburgh signed safety Arthur Maulet while cutting cornerback Trevor Williams and safety John Battle, they announced Friday.

It’s a one-year deal with Maulet, who was with the Jets the past two seasons. Originally an UDFA with the Saints back in 2017, Maulet started a game for the Colts in 2018, but really found his footing in the league with New York in 2019. He appeared in 23 games and started 11 for the Jets over the past two years. In 11 games and five starts in 2020, he had 29 tackles, a sack, five passes defended, and an interception. He entered the league a little older than most so the Memphis product will turn 28 in July.

Williams looked like a potential very solid starter early in his career with the Chargers, but a knee injury derailed his career. Williams started 15 games for the Chargers in 2017 and seven in 2018 before the knee issue landed him on IR. He had been a part of a strong Chargers secondary, but was cut in 2019 after landing on injured reserve again.

Teams keep taking flyers on him since, as he’s had short stints with the Cardinals, Eagles and Jaguars recently, but they keep cutting him too. He’s still only 27, and will likely get another shot soon since teams seem to believe in his potential.

Battle is a 2019 UDFA from LSU who was on the Steelers’ practice squad last year.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/15/21

Here are the latest reserve/futures contracts given out:

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Las Vegas Raiders

  • QB Kyle Sloter

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Steelers Trim Roster Down

The entire AFC North is now finished as the Steelers became the latest team to trim their roster to 53 players. Here are all the moves, we’ll recap the most notable ones at the bottom:

Lynch is probably the most well known of these names. The former Broncos first-round bust signed with the Steelers last year as insurance after multiple quarterback injuries. He’s running out of chances. Switzer has mostly contributed as a returner with Pittsburgh and Dallas, although he did have 36 catches with the Steelers in 2018.

Smallwood was one of the Eagles’ main running backs in 2018, but didn’t get too many touches with Washington last year. He’ll likely pop up somewhere else soon. Brooks Jr. was the Steelers’ sixth-round pick in this past draft, so he’s likely ticketed for the practice squad if he clears waivers.

McCullers has been with the Steelers the past six years so his is a significant departure even though the nose tackle only played 12 percent of the defensive snaps last season.

 

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/9/20

The latest reserve/futures signings from around the NFL:

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC South

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC 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 Buccaneers, FalconsPanthers and Saints 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 NFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Buccaneers Reach 53-Man Max

The Bucs are in the books with their 53-man roster. To get there, they’ve (naturally) dropped a boatload of players.

Among those released is running back Andre Ellington, who was out of football in 2018 but was thought to have a good shot at the roster thanks to his history with Bruce Arians in Arizona. UDFA tailback Bruce Anderson is also out, despite his pass-catching prowess.

Kicker Cairo Santos has also been shown the door after re-signing with the team in March. With that, Matt Gay has won the job.

The rest of the breakdown is below.

WAIVED:

· S John Battle

· DL Terry Beckner

· T Cole Boozer

· S Kentrell Brice

· WR Emanuel Hall

· S Isaiah Johnson

· TE Jordan Leggett

· OLB Noah Spence

· C Nate Trewyn

· CB Mazzi Wilkins

WAIVED/INJURED:

· DL Jeremiah Ledbetter

WAIVED/NON-FOOTBALL INJURY:

· QB Nick Fitzgerald

RELEASED:

· K Cairo Santos

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/7/19

Today’s minor moves:

Dallas Cowboys

  • Signed: OL Kiwanis Bushell-Beatty
  • Waived/injured: WR Lance Lenoir

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions: 6/13/19

Today’s minor moves:

Chicago Bears

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

Jets Sign 16 Undrafted Free Agents

The Jets had a relatively small 2019 draft class with only six selections, but they’ve supplemented those prospects by adding 16 undrafted free agents:

Gil Brandt of NFL.com named Tyler Jones as the fourth-best undrafted free agent interior lineman available, and the Jets don’t exactly have the league’s strongest guard/center situation. If he’s able to play center, Jones could be factor in New York, where only Jonotthan Harrison and Jon Toth are ahead of the NC State product on the depth chart. Lance Zierlein of NFL.com lauded Jones’ pass-blocking acumen and noted his abilities in a zone scheme, which should play well in Adam Gase‘s new system.