Chiefs Work Out John Green
- The Chiefs worked out rookie cornerback John Green on Friday, according to a league source who spoke with Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Green, undrafted from Connecticut, spent time with the Titans in the spring.
Chiefs Waive Montori Hughes
Kansas City Chiefs
Chiefs Waive Jordan Sterns
- The Chiefs placed undrafted rookie Jordan Sterns on waivers. Sterns is a safety from Oklahoma State.
Details On Roy Miller's Contract
Both the Texans and No. 1 wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins would like to reach a long-term deal this summer, and odds are that it will happen, suggests John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Hopkins, due to make $7.9MM as a fifth-year option player this season, became all the more important to the Texans’ cause for 2017 after No. 2 receiver Will Fuller suffered a broken collarbone Wednesday. Fuller’s multi-month absence could mean even more opportunities for Hopkins, who easily led the Texans in both targets and receptions in each of the previous two seasons. Despite having to catch passes from middling or worse quarterbacks throughout his career, Hopkins has a history of terrific production. Thanks to his output thus far, the 25-year-old looks poised to become one of the NFL’s highest-paid wideouts in the coming weeks.
More from the AFC:
- Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is keeping all options on the table beyond 2017, including retirement and playing a few more years. “I hope (to play multiple future seasons), but I’m only going to focus on this year,” Roethlisberger revealed Wednesday (via Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review). Whether the 35-year-old sticks around will depend somewhat on how much of a beating his offensive line allows him to take this season. “If those guys up front are playing as well as they have been playing, getting sacked (a career-low) 17 times in (2016) — it might keep me around a little longer,” he said.
- With 2015 first-round pick Phillip Dorsett and free agent signing Kamar Aiken, the Colts have a pair of notable receivers behind starters T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief. However, the unheralded Chester Rogers has emerged as Indy’s likely No. 3 wideout, according to Kevin Bowen of the team’s website. As an undrafted rookie last year, Rogers accrued 34 targets and 19 catches in 14 games (two starts), and he averaged 14.4 yards per catch. Both Dorsett and Aiken bettered Rogers’ counting stats in 2016, but the second-year man has nonetheless turned into a “virtual 12th starter for the Colts,” writes Bowen.
- Defensive tackle Roy Miller‘s contract with the Chiefs is a one-year, $1.4MM pact that could be worth up to $2.5MM, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. The deal includes $300K in guarantees.
Chiefs Sign DT Roy Miller
Roy Miller has found an NFL home. The former Jaguars defensive tackle has inked a deal with the Chiefs, agent Mike McCartney tweets. 
[RELATED: Chiefs Complete Trade With Seahawks]
Miller recently worked out for the Dolphins and the Bills, but left both auditions without a deal. After his season was cut short in Week 6 by an ACL tear, Miller is eager to prove that he can once again be healthy and productive. He was a starter for Jacksonville from 2013 up until the time of his injury, so he’s a good bet for the 53-man roster if he has made a full recovery.
Miller will push T.J. Barnes for the job as Bennie Logan‘s top backup at nose tackle. Kansas City is hoping that Logan and his reinforcements will help offset the loss of Dontari Poe to free agency.
Minor NFL Transactions: 7/31/17
A roundup of today’s minor transactions:
- The Cardinals signed cornerback Jarell Carter and waived/injured linebacker Alani Fua (knee) and cornerback Ronald Zamort (knee). Zamort appeared to be ahead of Brandon Williams on the Cardinals’ depth chart at the time of his season-ending ACL tear.
- The Bengals waived kicker Jonathan Brown, which means the team’s kicking competition is down to Jake Elliott and Randy Bullock. To fill his roster spot, the Bengals signed safety Cedric Thompson.
- The Colts claimed former Denver tight end Henry Krieger-Coble on waivers. To make room, the Colts waived tight end Colin Jeter.
- The Eagles signed cornerback Tay Glover-Wright to a one-year contract, per a club announcement. Glover-Wright is an undrafted free agent with Utah State with just two games of NFL experience on his resume.
- Wide receiver K.J. Maye, who played in college at Minnesota, has been signed to the Patriots‘ 90-man roster.
- The 49ers announced that they’ve claimed wide receiver Tim Patrick off waivers from Baltimore and waived/injured fellow wideout B.J. Johnson.
- The Chiefs have signed free agent wide receivers Corey Washington and Rob Wheelwright, and waived wide receiver Antwan Goodley and tight end Emanuel Byrd.
- The Saints have signed former South Carolina linebacker Jonathan Walton, tweets Nick Underhill of the Advocate.
Chiefs Make Two Roster Moves
Kansas City Chiefs
Chiefs Trade LB D.J. Alexander To Seahawks For LB Kevin Pierre-Louis
The Chiefs and Seahawks have agreed to a swap of linebackers, as Kansas City will send D.J. Alexander to the Seattle in exchange for Kevin Pierre-Louis, the Chiefs announced today.
Alexander, 25, was selected in the fifth round of the 2015 draft, and has primarily contributed on special teams thus far in his career. He’s appeared in all 32 games in two seasons with the Chiefs, but has just one start. Last year, he posted five tackles while playing 48 defensive snaps and 358 special teams snaps. Alexander earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2016, and was named as one of the league’s best special teamers by Pro Football Focus.
Pierre-Louis is a remarkably similar player to Alexander. Also 25 years old, Pierre-Louis was drafted one year earlier than Alexander, albeit in the fourth round. Like Alexander, he’s essentially a special teams-only player: in 2016, he played 71 defensive snaps and 227 special teams snaps. All told, Pierre-Louis racked up seven tackles.
The primary difference between Alexander and Pierre-Louis is team control. Alexander is signed for two more seasons, with base salaries below $800K in each year. Kansas City will only get Pierre-Louis through 2017, however. He’ll earn $690K next year.
Chiefs Sign OL Bryan Witzmann To Extension
The Chiefs announced that they have signed lineman Bryan Witzmann to an extension. The new deal adds one year to his contract and will keep him in place through the 2018 season, Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star hears. 
Witzmann missed the Cowboys’ 53-man cut last September but he was quickly scooped up by the Chiefs on waivers. He didn’t do much on the field for KC last year, appearing in just four offensive snaps and 49 special teams snaps. Apparently, the Chiefs like what they’ve seen in practice.
The 6’7″ guard/tackle split some first-team reps at left guard with Zach Fulton during organized team activities this spring, Paylor notes, so he could be a bigger part of the team’s plans going forward. Parker Ehinger is still slated to start at left guard, but he is still recovering from a serious knee injury. Witzmann could be called upon to help fill the void on the interior in addition to snaps at tackle.
Terms of the deal are not yet known, but we do know that Witzmann was originally slated to carry a cap number of $540K in 2017.
Chiefs Notes: Kaepernick, Smith, Front Office
Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith became $2MM richer when he showed up to training camp Thursday, making his reporting bonus the largest in the NFL, per Field Yates of ESPN (on Twitter).
With Smith and first-round pick Patrick Mahomes in the fold, the Chiefs aren’t in the market for a signal-caller, but there would be “no hesitation” to sign polarizing free agent Colin Kaepernick if they were, owner Clark Hunt told NBC Sports Radio in San Francisco on Wednesday (via Scott Gleason of USA Today).
While Kaepernick’s political activism has made it difficult for him to find work since he opted out of his contract with the 49ers in March, that wouldn’t have deterred the Chiefs from pursuing him. Clark noted that “there are certain circumstances where guys get in trouble off the field, and that is something as an organization and as a family we care about,” but Kaepernick isn’t someone who has been a problem away from the gridiron.
Notably, Kaepernick was teammates with Smith when the two were 49ers from 2011-12. Kaepernick took the No. 1 job from Smith during that stretch, which led San Francisco to trade him to Kansas City, but there’s no chance of the two appearing on the same depth chart with the Chiefs.
- The Chiefs promoted Mike Borgonzi from co-director of player personnel to director of player personnel on Wednesday, per BJ Kissel of the team’s website. Borgonzi had shared the position with Brett Veach, who took over for the fired John Dorsey as Kansas City’s GM earlier this month. Veach beat out Borgonzi and others for the role.