Bears Trim Roster To 53
The Bears have reduced their roster to 53 players by making the following transactions:
Waived:
- T Dejon Allen
- DT Abdullah Anderson
- LB Jonathan Anderson (injured)
- WR Demarcus Ayers
- LS Tanner Carew
- DB Rashard Fant (injured)
- DB John Franklin
- WR Tanner Gentry
- DB Doran Grant
- G Brandon Greene
- LB Ro’Derrick Hoskins
- WR Garrett Johnson
- WR Malachi Jones
- DB Michael Joseph
- DB Cre’von LeBlanc
- DB Jonathon Mincy
- RB Taquan Mizzell
- G Jordan Morgan
- RB Ryan Nall
- DE Elijah Norris
- DB Nick Orr
- G Will Pericak
- TE Colin Thompson
- LB John Timu
- DT Cavon Walker
- P Ryan Winslow
- LB Josh Woods
Released:
- QB Tyler Bray
- RB Knile Davis
- LB Kasim Edebali
- WR Bennie Fowler
- DT John Jenkins
- T Matt McCants
- DE Nicholas Williams
Placed on injured reserve:
- WR Marlon Brown
Bears To Sign WR Marlon Brown
While Marlon Brown won’t be as likely to make the Bears’ 53-man roster as the franchise’s other offseason additions at this spot, he reached an agreement to compete for a spot.
The Bears signed the former Ravens supporting-cast wideout on Thursday, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. Brown has not played in an NFL game since the 2015 season. Brown worked out for the Bears on Tuesday.
Brown joins Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel and Bennie Fowler as newcomer Bears wideouts. Still just 26, the 6-foot-5 receiver was out of football last season, last being affiliated with the Broncos during their 2017 training camp. Brown’s best season came in 2013, when he caught 49 passes for 524 yards and seven touchdowns. The Georgia product has not gotten into the end zone since his rookie season.
After losing RFA Cameron Meredith to the Saints, the Bears’ wide receiver group will look almost entirely new this season. Josh Bellamy and Kevin White remain on the roster, but the latter can’t exactly be counted on given his extensive injury past. Beyond Bellamy, 2017 UDFA Tanner Gentry s three catches last season were the most among the remaining receivers still on the Bears’ roster.
North Rumors: Bengals, Lamar, Lions, Bears
Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson met with the Bengals on Monday, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer. While the Bengals haven’t attempted to upgrade on incumbent signal-caller Andy Dalton in recent years, Jackson could potentially be available when the club picks at No. 21 in the first round. But as Dehner notes, Cincinnati might also be planning for other outcomes, such as a Jackson draft-day fall or a trade with another team. It’s conceivably the Bengals simply want to appear interested in quarterback prospects in an effort to goad a club into moving up. Currently, Cincinnati has free agent Matt Barkley and Jeff Driskel behind Dalton on its depth chart.
Here’s more from the NFL’s two North divisions:
- The Lions have hosted Boston College edge rusher Harold Landry, reports Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Detroit has added several interior defensive lineman so far this offseason, but the team has yet to address its pass-rushing need. Landry could help in that regard, but there’s no guarantee he’ll still be on the board at pick No. 20. For what it’s worth, Landry played under now-Lions defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni at BC. Landry, who posted 48 sacks during his collegiate career, would not only give Detroit immediate help on the edge, but allow the Lions to hedge against a potential 2019 loss of franchise-tagged defensive end Ezekiel Ansah.
- Darqueze Dennard finally lived up to his first-round billing in 2017, and the Bengals are now open to extending his contract, as Dehner writes in a separate piece. Under contract for one more season thanks to his fifth-year option, Dennard will earn $8.526MM in 2018 before hitting free agency next spring. The No. 24 overall selection in the 2014 draft, Dennard played 899 defensive snaps a season ago (nearly triple his previous career-high) and graded as the NFL’s 30th-best corner, per Pro Football Focus. Cincinnati is already heavily extended at cornerback, as it re-signed Dre Kirkpatrick and draft William Jackson III in 2016, but the club has always been willing to pay for secondary help.
- The Bears will work out veteran defensive back Tharold Simon at their minicamp this week, tweets Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Simon, 27, didn’t see the field last season after inking a futures deal with the Redskins, as he was cut in May. A subsequent tryout with the Saints didn’t result in a contract, and Simon never generated any other known interest. However, Simon was a key contributor for the Seahawks in 2014, and as Bigg notes, has the type of size 6’2″, 200 pounds) that Chicago defensive coordinator Vic Fangio covets. Wide receiver Marlon Brown and linebacker Ryan Delaire, each of whom boasts NFL experience, are also auditioning for the Bears, per Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link).
NFL Workout Updates: 10/20/17
Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account:
Baltimore Ravens
- QB Alek Torgersen; WRs Philly Brown, Marlon Brown, Cyril Grayson, Jordan Payton; TE Gavin Escobar; (link)
Chicago Bears
- P Brock Miller (link)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- G Brandon Thomas; DT Josh Augusta (link)
Los Angeles Chargers
- T Michael Ola (link)
NFL Workout Updates: 9/19/17
Today’s workout updates:
Carolina Panthers
- T Laurence Gibson; CB Tevin Homer (Twitter link via Howard Balzer)
Chicago Bears
- QBs Garrett Grayson and Bart Houston; WRs Marlon Brown, Bug Howard, Kyle Prater, Tevaun Smith, Daniel Williams, and James Wright; TE D.J. Tialavea; C Mark Spelman; T Givens Price; LBs Carl Bradford and Shayne Skov; DTs Stefan Charles, Mike Purcell, and Nick Williams (Link via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune)
Dallas Cowboys
- OLs Michael Dunn, Jake Eldrenkamp, Kaleb Johnson, and Jarron Jones; LB Tre’Von Johnson; DT Caraun Reid, CBs Chris Lewis-Harris, JaCorey Shepherd, D’Joun Smith, and Ian Wells (Twitter link via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News)
Green Bay Packers
- QB Jerod Evans; RB Algeron Brown; WRs C.J. Board, Alonzo Moore, and Jordan Williams; TE Ryan O’Malley; DTs Jeremy Faulk and Joey Ivie (Link via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- DTs Ryan Carrethers, John Hughes, and Cam Thomas (Twitter link via Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union)
Kansas City Chiefs
- LB Garrett Sickels; CBs Makinton Dorleant and Ezra Robinson (Twitter link via Adam Caplan)
Miami Dolphins
- LB Zaviar Gooden (Twitter link via Caplan)
New York Jets
- WRs Corey Brown, Josh Huff and Paul Turner; G Robert Myers; DL Stefan Charles, Datone Jones, Alex McCalister, and Joby Saint Fleur; CBs Malik Foreman and D.J. Killings; S Jordan Moore. (Twitter links via Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, Caplan, Balzer (1, 2) and Wilson)
San Francisco 49ers
- OL Willie Beavers, Wil Freeman, Laurence Gibson, and Max Rich (Twitter link via Caplan and Balzer)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- CB Randall Evans (Twitter link via Caplan)
NFL Workout Updates: 9/13/17
Today’s workout updates, with nearly all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account:
Buffalo Bills
- QB Joel Stave; WRs Chris Brown, Marlon Brown; G Oni Omoile; T Brad Seaton; CB Makinton Dorleant (Twitter links)
Chicago Bears
- DE Praise Martin-Oguike; LBs Akeem Ayers, Chris Casher, Vontarrius Dora, Jonathan Freeny; LS Andrew East (Twitter links)
Green Bay Packers
- WR Jesse Kroll; LBs Donnie Baggs, Brooks Ellis, Christian Kuntz (Twitter links)
Indianapolis Colts
- WRs K.J. Brent, Devin Lucien, KeVonn Mabon; OTs Andreas Knappe, Javarius Leamon, Jah Reid, Brad Seaton; DEs Logan Ingle, Branden Jackson (all Twitter links)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- DT Darius Kilgo (link)
Kansas City Chiefs
- CBs Alex Carter, Josh Thornton (link)
New England Patriots
- QB Mitch Leidner; WRs Daniel Braverman, Tevaun Smith, Jahad Thomas, Bryan Walters; LS Taybor Pepper; P Austin Rehkow (link here)
New Orleans Saints
- WRs Corey Brown, Josh Huff, Seantavius Jones, Anthony Nash, Myles White; Gs Dallas Thomas, Andrew Tiller, Earl Watford, Cody Wichmann; LBs Akeem Ayers, Sio Moore; OT Eric Winston; CB Jumal Rolle; S Jordan Moore (all Twitter links here)
New York Jets
- RB Lorenzo Taliaferro; WRs Jaydon Mickens, Anthony Nash, Michael Rector; TE Scott Orndoff (link)
Philadelphia Eagles
- LBs Carl Bradford, Tre’von Johnson, Joseph Jones, Antwione Williams; Ks Marshall Koehn, Josh Lambo, Mike Nugent (Twitter links)
Tennessee Titans
- G Kaleb Johnson (link)
Washington Redskins
- RBs Jonathan Grimes, Daryl Richardson; G Greg Pyke; (link)
Broncos Down To 52-Man Roster
The Broncos are down to a 52-man roster. Why 52, you ask? That’s because their signing of quarterback Brock Osweiler is not yet official. Once he’s inked, they’ll be at the 53-man max.
The Broncos also have Shane Ray on the active roster as of this writing. If they place him on IR, they’ll have another spot to work with.
Here’s the full look at their roster:
Released:
Waived:
- DE Nelson Adams
- S Dante Barnett
- C Dillon Day
- LB Vontarrius Dora
- LB Ken Ekanem
- LB Jerrol Garcia-Williams
- LB Quentin Gause
- LB Deon Hollins
- G Cameron Hunt
- NT Tyrique Jarrett
- OT Cedrick Lang
- LB Danny Mason
- LB Deiontrez Mount
- OT Justin Murray
- WR Anthony Nash
- NT Kyle Peko
- WR Kalif Raymond
- CB Marcus Rios
- TE Steven Scheu
- OL Michael Schofield
- WR Hunter Sharp
- QB Kyle Sloter
- DE Shakir Soto
- S Orion Stewart
- S Dymonte Thomas
- RB Juwan Thompson
- TE Austin Traylor
- OT Elijah Wilkinson
- RB Stanley Williams
Waived/Injured:
- LB Kevin Snyder
Placed On IR:
Reserve/NFI:
- TE Jake Butt
- QB Chad Kelly
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/10/16
Here are today’s minor moves.
- To fill Kenny Vaccaro‘s roster spot made available by the safety dropping his appeal of a suspension this week, the Saints promoted center Jack Allen from their practice squad, Christopher Dabe of NOLA.com reports. The Saints initially signed Allen as a UDFA this May out of Michigan State. Max Unger, who has played in all 28 games in New Orleans since being acquired in the Jimmy Graham deal, is questionable with a foot injury.
- Brandon Marshall‘s hamstring injury and impending Week 14 absence induced the Broncos to make depth arrangements at linebacker, and the defending Super Bowl champions did so by adding Quentin Gause off the practice squad, Mike Klis of 9News reports. To make room, the Broncos placed recently re-signed wide receiver Marlon Brown on IR. An undrafted rookie who spent time with the Eagles and Patriots, Gause landed on Denver’s practice squad in mid-October. A back injury caused the Broncos to cut Brown in August, and since re-signing the former Ravens target in November, the team did not deploy Brown in a game.
- The Bills promoted outside linebacker Bryson Albright from the practice squad, Joe Buscaglia of WKBW reports (on Twitter). A UDFA from Miami (Ohio) University, Albright has spent the season on Buffalo’s taxi squad and has yet to play in an NFL game.
Broncos Sign Marlon Brown
The Broncos reached a multiyear agreement with Marlon Brown on Monday, per NFL.com’s James Palmer (on Twitter), with the former Ravens wide receiver becoming the Broncos’ seventh on their roster. It’s a two-year deal, according to Troy Renck of Denver7 (on Twitter).
Denver cut second-year cornerback Taurean Nixon to make room.
The Broncos cut Brown during training camp. However, as the Denver Post’s Cameron Wolfe tweets, the 6-foot-5 target likely would have made the team had a back injury not intervened. Wolfe adds Brown is likely to contribute if he can stay healthy, possibly in red zone situations given his size.
Brown played three seasons with the Ravens after arriving in Baltimore as a UDFA in 2013. He played under Gary Kubiak in 2014 during the current Broncos coach’s one-year stay in Maryland. The 25-year-old receiver has 87 career receptions for 849 yards and seven touchdowns. Brown hasn’t played in a game this season, with the Broncos’ August cut being his most recent NFL transaction.
Brown will join an Denver auxiliary wideout corps that has not seen one of its members stand out much over the past two seasons, with Jordan Norwood, Bennie Fowler, Cody Latimer and Jordan Taylor representing the current supplementary cast. Norwood leads this group with 203 receiving yards this season.
Nixon saw his first NFL action in the Broncos’ loss to the Raiders during a game in which Aqib Talib and Kayvon Webster did not play.
Broncos Waive Marlon Brown
Marlon Brown‘s time in Denver did not last long. On Thursday morning, the Broncos waived Brown to make room for former Colorado State offensive lineman Sam Carlson, as Cameron Wolfe of The Denver Post tweets.
[RELATED: Broncos Place Phil Taylor On IR]
Brown suffered a back injury during camp a few days ago, according to Wolfe, and the team ostensibly did not want to wait for him to heal up. The former Ravens wide receiver signed on with the Broncos roughly one week ago, but did not get a chance to even hang up his coat. With Brown out of the picture, the Broncos still have ten wide receivers on the 90-man roster. Receivers including Bralon Addison, Jordan Taylor, and DeVier Posey are fighting for a roster spot, as shown on Roster Resource. The Broncos’ receiving group is headlined by Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders with support from Cody Latimer, Bennie Fowler, and Jordan Norwood.
Brown, who turned 25 in April, spent the last three seasons in Baltimore, though he saw his role in the offense decline since making his debut in 2013. In his rookie season, the Georgia product caught 49 balls for 524 yards and seven touchdowns. He has failed to reach the end zone since then, and recorded just 14 receptions and 112 yards in 2015.
While Brown contributed occasionally on special teams, wasn’t a key piece of that unit in Baltimore last year. When taking into account his reduced role on offense, it was no surprise that the team opted not to extend him an RFA tender earlier this offseason. The Ravens re-signed Brown to a lesser salary in mid-March, but dropped him from the roster in May.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.