Jonathan Ledbetter

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/13/24

Here are today’s free agent tender decisions:

RFAs

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

ERFAs

Tendered:

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/29/23

Friday’s minor transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

Badgley has officially been tabbed as the leg to depend on for the remainder of the season as well as for the Lions’ first playoff run since 2016. Detroit waived Riley Patterson two weeks ago, allowing Badgley to stake his claim on the job once again.

The Cabinda departure is a little surprising, considering the Lions just utilized one of their injured reserve activations on the former linebacker yesterday. Because of that investment, it would make sense to see Cabinda return to Detroit on a practice squad deal here in the next few days.

Cardinals DE Jonathan Ledbetter Out For Season

As the Cardinals close out the 2023 season over the next two weeks, they will be shorthanded along the defensive interior. Jonathan Ledbetter is out for the rest of the year due to a knee injury, head coach Jonathan Gannon announced on Tuesday.

The defensive end was injured on Sunday in the Cardinals’ loss to the Bears, and he will now likely find himself on injured reserve. Ledbetter’s 2023 campaign – his third in Arizona – has seen him take on a full-time starter’s role and post new career-highs in terms of production. The news thus come as a disappointing end to an encouraging season.

The 26-year-old played only one game in his debut Cardinals campaign in 2021, but he was used in a rotational capacity the following year. Logging a 29% snap share, Ledbetter posted 22 tackles while making 14 appearances and three starts. He finished the season on injured reserve, but remained in place for the current season as a young, inexpensive option for the rebuilding Cardinals’ defense.

In 2023, Ledbetter started all 12 of his appearances while seeing a signficant jump in playing time (64% snap share). The former UDFA parlayed that increased workload into a new career high in tackles (46), sacks (1.5), pressures (five) and quarterback hits (four). His improvement in the pass-rush department produced a 60.0 PFF grade in that regard, although Ledbetter’s overall evaluation resulted in an overall grade of 36.2, a regression from last season.

The Georgia alum is a pending free agent, so it will be interesting to see if his performance this season earns him a new Cardinals deal or a market amongst other suitors in the new league year. In any case, Ledbetter will turn his attention to recovery while Arizona moves forward without a D-line starter to finish the campaign.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/6/23

Today’s minor moves heading into the Saturday slate of games:

Arizona Cardinals

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

New England Patriots

  • Reverted back to IR: P Jake Bailey
  • Moved from IR to reserve/suspended by club: P Jake Bailey, CB Jack Jones

Philadelphia Eagles

 

After working out for the Chiefs yesterday and signing to their practice squad today, Wright will be promoted immediately as a gameday elevation for tomorrow’s regular season finale against the Raiders. Regular kicker Harrison Butker has been ruled out for the fifth game this year and the first time since Week 5 of the season, opening up a playing opportunity for Wright this week.

Bailey has been on injured reserve since Week 9 and was designated to return from IR around December 21, while Jones was placed on IR only a week ago on New Year’s Eve. Bailey’s return window has since closed reverting him to season-ending IR, but in one of the less common transactions seen this season, he and Jones were both moved from an IR designation to the reserve/suspended by club designation. The exact reason why each player has been suspended by the team is unclear, but it is apparently the result of two separate incidents.

Cardinals Add WR Josh Doctson To P-Squad

Josh Doctson is back in the NFL. The former first-round pick latched on with the Cardinals on Friday, agreeing to join their practice squad.

The veteran wide receiver auditioned for the Cards last month. This will end a lengthy stay in free agency and give Doctson a chance to move back onto a regular-season roster for the first time in nearly two years.

Although Doctson caught on with the Jets in 2020, he opted out of last season and then saw Gang Green cut him earlier this year. Doctson’s most recent instance of being on a 53-man roster in-season came in 2019. The Vikings, however, cut him in November of that year.

The TCU product operated as a starter for multiple Washington teams in the late 2010s, eclipsing 500 receiving yards in 2017 and ’18, but the 2016 first-rounder has been unable to stick with another team for a full season since.

Doctson will join the likes of Rasul Douglas and Chris Banjo on Arizona’s taxi squad. The team also signed defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter, cornerback Antonio Hamilton and offensive lineman Michal Menet to its P-squad. For the second straight year, teams can carry up to 16 players on practice squads.

Dolphins Set Initial 53-Man Roster

The Dolphins have joined the club of teams to officially get down to 53 players on cutdown day. Here’s the list of of players from Miami that will be looking for new homes in the coming days:

Placed on season-ending IR:

Released:

Waived:

There are some reasonably big names on this list, including LeBlanc and Harvey-Clemons among the vested veterans getting outright released. LeBlanc played a sizable role in the Eagles’ secondary last season, and started nine games for the Bears as a rookie back in 2016. Harvey-Clemons was a decent-sized part of Washington’s defense in 2018, but his role was reduced in 2019 before he opted out of the 2020 seasons.

You’ll likely recognize some of the waiver cuts as well, including Griffin. The brother of star cornerback Shaquill Griffin, the linebacker was attempting to make the team after a few years with the Seahawks. Laird started four games for the Dolphins in 2019 and received 62 carries that year, but he was mainly a special teams guy last season.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/21/20

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day.

Dallas Cowboys

Miami Dolphins

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Dolphins Re-Sign Tank Carradine

In a series of corresponding moves, the Dolphins announced earlier this morning that they had signed defensive end Tank Carradine and placed defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter on injured reserve.

Carradine was part of the Dolphins’ final cuts back in August after he started three of four preseason games and registered only a single tackle. The former 49ers 2013 second-round draft pick has failed to live up to his draft status thus far, totaling 77 tackles, 5.5 sacks, and one forced fumble in 45 career games. Since Carradine was released before Week 1, the Dolphins were not required to guarantee his salary of $880K for the 2019 season.

Ledbetter, an undrafted free agent from Georgia, signed with the Dolphins back in May, and started for the organization in last week’s ugly loss against the Ravens. Ledbetter played well in the contest, however, making four tackles and registering half a sack, while playing 66% of the team’s defensive snaps.

Dolphins Notes: Mills, Drake, Ledbetter

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald passes along a veritable treasure trove of notes for Dolphins fans today, so let’s dive right in:

  • Although free agent acquisition Jordan Mills was disappointing in minicamp and was replaced at right tackle by Jesse Davis, Jackson says the Dolphins are still very much open to having Mills man the RT position. The club will give him a chance to redeem himself in training camp and may elect to keep Davis at guard, where he played last year. Zach Sterup is also in the mix for the right tackle job.
  • Jackson believes that running back Kenyan Drake has been woefully underutilized to date and that he should be getting 12 to 18 carries a game. Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics support Jackson’s opinion, citing Drake’s ability to win after early contact and force missed tackles. However, PFF also says Kalen Ballage should serve as Miami’s primary third-down/receiving back, which Jackson’s eye test does not support. Jackson says Ballage looked “unnatural” as a receiver out of the backfield during the club’s offseason program, and he even says the embattled Mark Walton could be the Dolphins’ best receiving back. Drake and Ballage will have plenty of opportunity to prove their worth in 2019, which is an especially crucial year for Drake, a 2020 free agent.
  • UDFAs often have a better chance of cracking the roster of a rebuilding team like the Dolphins then they would on a club with playoff aspirations, and Jackson says Miami hopes at least one of the its undrafted defensive linemen — Dewayne Hendrix and Jonathan Ledbetter — will make the cut. Ledbetter, one of the best collegiate DEs at stopping the run, is attempting to diversify his game by refining his pass rush skills.
  • The team also has several UDFA cornerbacks that merit some attention, and the new coaching staff had plenty of luck developing that type of prospect in New England. 2018 UDFA Jalen Davis flashed in minicamp this year, and while the Dolphins have taken a look at him both outside the numbers and in the slot, his size (5-10, 185) may make him better-suited to a slot role.