Julian Whigham

Steelers Trim Roster To 79

The Steelers have placed rookie OT Jerald Hawkins on the reserved/injured list and have waived/injured quarterback Dustin Vaughan, as Ray Fittipaldo of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Per Fittipaldo, the club has also cut the following players:

  • LB Jordan Zumwalt
  • LB Mike Reilly
  • WR Levi Norwood
  • WR Isaac Blakeney
  • TE Michael Cooper
  • DE Giorgio Newberry
  • DT K.K. Mosley-Smith
  • CB Julian Whigham

Zumwalt, the Steelers‘ sixth-round pick in 2014, spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons on injured reserve with a hip injury, and the hip surgery that ended his 2015 campaign before it started took over five hours to complete and included a brutal recovery/rehabilitation period. Zumwalt had been working exclusively at inside linebacker in offseason workouts, but he did not do enough to survive the first round of cuts.

The Steelers now have79 players on their roster and must get down to 75 by Tuesday at 4pm.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/14/16

Here are today’s minor moves:

  • The Dolphins have signed defensive end Cedric Reed, tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The former Texas product spent last season on the Bills’ practice squad.
  • The Eagles have released offensive lineman Malcolm Bunche and wideout Deon Long, reports Zach Berman of The Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). Bunche, a 2015 undrafted free agent, spent last season on Philly’s practice squad. Long, meanwhile, was added by the Eagles in early August after having been cut by the Rams.

Earlier updates:

  • The Steelers announced that they’ve placed special teams ace Ross Ventrone on injured reserve after he was injured in the club’s first preseason game. Pittsburgh also waived/injured offensive tackle Brian Mihalik and defensive tackle Roy Philon. To take those roster spots, the Steelers signed offensive tackle Wade Hansen, defensive tackle Khaynin Mosley-Smith, and cornerback Julian Whigham.
  • The Falcons‘ roster is back to 90 players after the team signed defensive back Ryan White, the club announced today.
  • The Jets have signed DL Jake Ceresna and RB Terry Williams, per Seth Walder of The New York Daily News (via Twitter). Walder adds that DL Christo Bilukidi left camp, and the team waived Anthony Kelly.
  • The Browns have signed WR Ed Eagan and have waived/injured Rannell Hall. The team also reached an injury settlement with DL Kyle Rose (Twitter link via Nate Ulrich of The Akron Beacon Journal).
  • The Cardinals have released LB Zack Wagenmann with an injury settlement and have signed DT Iosia Iosia, Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com tweets. Wagenmann, whom Arizona signed as a UDFA out of Montana last season, missed his entire rookie campaign after breaking his foot twice. He set Montana’s career sacks (37.5) and tackles for loss (53) records. The Titans signed Iosia as a UDFA this season, but he was waived in May.

Bills Sign Boom Herron

The Bills announced that they have signed running back Dan Herron. To make room, the Bills released cornerback Julian WhighamDan Herron (vertical)

Herron spent time with Buffalo during the 2015 season when the team was ravaged by injuries in the backfield. Now, he could once again provide some depth as LeSean McCoy deals with a hamstring injury. Last year was a somewhat tumultuous year for Herron, who was waived off the Colts’ injured reserve at the beginning of the season. After working out for the Patriots, Herron latched on with the Bills, appearing in four games and registering 11 rushing attempts. Buffalo cut bait with Herron relatively quickly, but Indianapolis, once again the market for a back, claimed him off waivers in order to secure a reunion with the former Ohio State Buckeye. Herron didn’t play much down the stretch, and was let go during the restricted free agent tender period.

Herron auditioned for the rival Dolphins on Monday, but he left without the team making an offer. Miami planned on keeping Herron on their “just in case” list, but Buffalo was ready to scoop him up immediately.

Whigham was struggling in OTAs, Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News tweets. Whigham, a Syracuse product, was originally signed as a UDFA on May 2nd.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bills Cut Jarius Wynn, Add 14 UDFAs

The Bills have fortified their rookie class, adding to their seven-man draft class by agreeing to terms with another 14 undrafted free agents, the team announced today. Here are the 14 undrafted rookies who have agreed to sign with Buffalo:

In addition to adding over a dozen rookies to their roster, the Bills also cut ties with some veteran players, per a press release. The most notable name in the trio of players released is edge defender Jarius Wynn, who perhaps became more expandable after Buffalo used its first-round pick on outside rusher Shaq Lawson. Wynn last played in 2014, recording 17 tackles and two sacks for the Bills.

The club also cut cornerback Merrill Noel and offensive lineman Ronald Patrick.