Chiefs To Cut OL Andrew Tiller
The Chiefs will waive offensive lineman Andrew Tiller, according to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link).
The writing was on the wall for Tiller, who signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs this summer, after Kansas City acquired former first-round offensive lineman Cameron Erving from the Browns this week. Erving and Parker Ehringer figure to be the top backups to starting guards Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Zach Fulton.
Tiller, 28, has started 14 games over the past two seasons, both of which he spent in San Francisco. He graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 43 ranked guard last season, earning nearly even marks for pass blocking and run blocking.
Chiefs To Place Tamba Hali On PUP
The Chiefs will place linebacker Tamba Hali on reserve/PUP, meaning he will miss the first six games of the season, according to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star.
Kansas City hasn’t released information on Hali’s specific injury, and Paylor speculates that the decision to place Hali on PUP could be a way to conserve the veteran for later in the season. The Chiefs will face several difficult opponents during the first six games of the year, however, as the club has games against the Patriots, Eagles, Chargers, Redskins, Texans, and Steelers.
Hali, 33, appeared in all 16 games for the Chiefs a season ago and played on roughly half the club’s defensive snaps. However, he finished with only 3.5 sacks, his lowest total since 2008. With Hali sidelined, Dee Ford will see even more action opposite Justin Houston at outside linebacker.
Chiefs Release TE Gavin Escobar
Gavin Escobar signed with the Chiefs earlier this offseason, but it sounds like he’s not going to make it to the regular season. ESPN’s Adam Caplan reports (via Twitter) that the team has released the tight end.
With Travis Kelce recovering from an injury and Demetrius Harris dealing with legal issues, the Chiefs brought in Escobar as a depth piece. With the 26-year-old being released, we can assume that former undrafted free agent Ross Travis earned a spot as the team’s third tight end.
Escobar, a 2013 second-round pick, spent the first four seasons of his career with the Cowboys, starting seven games. His first two campaigns saw him compiling at least 100 receiving yards a year, but he saw a reduced role in 2015 and 2016. Over the past two seasons, Escobar has combined for only 12 receptions, 94 yards, and two touchdowns. The 26-year-old has also proven to be a capable special teamer, compiling eight tackles over his career.
Titans To Acquire David King From Chiefs
The Titans are acquiring defensive end David King from the Chiefs, Adam Caplan of ESPN tweets. Kansas City will receive a conditional 2018 seventh-round pick, Tennessee announced.
Tennessee will be the fifth organization for the 27-year-old King, who entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the Eagles in 2013. King never saw any regular-season action in Philadelphia or Cincinnati, where he had a stint from 2013-14. He debuted in 2014 as a member of the Seahawks, with whom he appeared in seven games over two seasons. The rest of his on-field experience (three games) came in Kansas City over the previous two years. Thus far, King has picked up four tackles and 1.5 sacks in 10 games.
With his new club, King will join a Titans defensive end contingent that includes DaQuan Jones, Austin Johnson and Angelo Blackson, among others. At best, he’ll serve as depth behind those three.
Chiefs Release Jah Reid
The Chiefs have released offensive lineman Jah Reid, according to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link).
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.
Spencer Ware Officially Out For Season
- Chiefs running back Spencer Ware did indeed suffer a torn PCL and LCL in the team’s preseason game against the Seahawks last week, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com confirms (on Twitter). Ware will undergo surgery and miss the entire season, leaving him in line for an “intense rehab,” Rapoport notes.
Chiefs Acquire Cameron Erving
The Browns have traded offensive lineman Cameron Erving to the Chiefs for a fifth-round pick in 2018, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Cleveland placed Erving on the block after he lost the starting right tackle job to second-year man Shon Coleman.
Erving goes down as a failed first-round pick for the Browns, who selected the former Florida State standout 19th overall in 2015. He was unable to establish himself either at tackle or along the interior of the line in Cleveland, which tried Erving at both guard and center. To his credit, the 25-year-old Erving has been durable to this point, having appeared in 29 of a possible 32 regular-season games. He started in all 13 of his appearances last season, though Pro Football Focus ranked him among the game’s worst centers.
For the Chiefs, who acquired another recent high pick – 2016 second-round linebacker Reggie Ragland – in a deal with the Bills earlier this week, Erving represents a talented reclamation project. If he breaks out over the next two seasons, the Chiefs will have the ability to control Erving through 2019 by way of a fifth-year option.
In the near term, playing time looks as if it will be difficult to come by for Erving in Kansas City. The Chiefs have five set starters along the line in tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz, guards Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Bryan Witzmann and center Mitch Morse, though injuries during the season should create opportunities for the team to plug in Erving.
Browns Release CB Joe Haden
The Browns have released veteran cornerback Joe Haden, the club announced today. Cleveland had been “aggressively” shopping Haden as of yesterday, but evidently wasn’t able to find a taker.
Cleveland’s efforts to trade Haden didn’t start only recently, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), who indicates the team had been marketing Haden for more than year. But the 28-year-old Haden’s contract likely proved a hindrance, as he’s due $11.1MM in 2017 base salary, a figure that includes $4MM in guarantees. That guarantee didn’t kick in until February, tweets Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap, so the Browns could have parted ways with Haden before that time and saved that total. However, the club presumably was willing to take the risk of eating that $4MM in the hopes of finding a trade partner.
An acquiring team would have also taken on Haden’s base salaries over the next two seasons: $11.1MM in 2018 and $10.4MM in 2019, though none of that money would have been guaranteed. Haden’s signing bonus proration will now accelerate onto the Browns’ salary cap over the next two campaigns, meaning the club will take on $7.2MM in dead money in 2017 and $3.6MM in 2018. Cleveland attempted to convince Haden to accept a pay cut before releasing him, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link), but Haden declined.
Haden’s performance probably wasn’t overly appealing to potential suitors, either, as he’d struggled with both injuries and ineffectiveness over the past several seasons. He missed 14 games from 2015-16, and ranked as just the No. 88 cornerback among 110 qualifiers last year, per Pro Football Focus. Among the 84 qualified cornerbacks in Football Outsiders’ data, Haden finished only 64th in yards allowed per pass (8.2).
The Browns will move forward with free agent acquisition Jason McCourty and 2016 waiver claim Briean Boddy-Calhoun as their starting corners, with Jamar Taylor in the slot. Fourth-round rookie Howard Wilson is also available for depth, while Haden’s release likely opened up a roster spot for a corner such as Trey Caldwell or Marcus Burley to earn space on the squad. Cleveland, which owns the NFL’s No. 1 waiver priority, may also be active in poaching players from other teams during roster cutdowns this weekend.
Haden, for his part, shouldn’t have any trouble finding a new team in relatively short order, and the Saints and Chiefs are among the clubs expected to have “strong interest” in him, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). New Orleans has inquired on Haden before, making a play for him prior to the 2016 trade deadline, but Cleveland’s asking price was reportedly too steep. The Cowboys, too, are eyeing Haden, but aren’t likely to get into a bidding war, per Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star Telegram (Twitter link). Haden’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told Schefter there is “tons of interest” in his client, and predicted Haden will have a new contract by Thursday (Twitter link).
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/28/17
Today’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: LS Taybor Pepper
Chicago Bears
- Signed: LS Jeff Overbaugh
- Waived/injured: Patrick Scales
Cincinnati Bengals
- Waived: P Will Monday
Cleveland Browns
- Waived: OL Gabe Ikard
Denver Broncos
- Waived/injured: DL Jimmy Bean
Detroit Lions
- Released: WR Keshawn Martin, TE Tim Wright
Green Bay Packers
- Waived: LS Derek Hart, WR Colby Pearson, RB William Stanback
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: S Earl Wolff
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: LB Akeem Dent
- Waived from IR: CB Ezra Robinson
Kansas City Chiefs
- Released: LB Josh Mauga
Los Angeles Rams
- Waived: K Travis Coons
New England Patriots
- Signed: DL Michael Bart, LB Christian Kuntz, LB Nick Usher
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: LB Audie Cole
- Placed on IR: TE Clay Harbor
New York Giants
- Signed: DB Daniel Gray
- Placed on IR: OL Adam Gettis
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: DE Mehdi Abdesmad, DL Hendrick Ekpe
- Waived: RB Blake Sims
- Placed on IR: Justin Trattou
Bills Trade LB Reggie Ragland To Chiefs
The Bills sure love to make trades. On Monday, the Bills shipped linebacker Reggie Ragland to the Chiefs for a 2019 fourth-round draft pick, according to an announcement from Kansas City. 
Ragland, a 2016 second-round pick made by the Doug Whaley regime, was fighting for a roster spot this summer. The 23-year-old missed the entirety of his rookie campaign with an ACL injury and has yet to see live NFL action.
The Bills are not only under new leadership, but they also have an entirely different defensive scheme. Rex Ryan‘s 3-4 is gone and has been replaced with Sean McDermott‘s 4-3. Ragland, apparently, was not a fit for Buffalo’s new-look D, but he could find a home in KC’s 3-4.
The Bills traded up to take the Alabama product in 2016, giving up a second-rounder (49th overall), fourth-rounder (117th overall), and a future fourth-rounder for the 41st-overall pick. Between the 2014 and 2015 seasons, Ragland racked up 195 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, and four sacks.
Assuming he cracks the 53-man roster, Ragland will serve as support for Chiefs starting inside linebackers Ramik Wilson and Derrick Johnson.
Ragland is the latest Bills player to be traded, following the path of wide receiver Sammy Watkins, cornerback Ronald Darby, and quarterback Cardale Jones. Between these swaps and their draft day deal with the Chiefs, the Bills now have an impressive stockpile of future selections, including the Chiefs’ 2018 first round pick, the Rams’ 2018 second round pick, the Eagles’ 2018 third round pick, and the Chiefs’ 2019 fourth round pick.