Minor NFL Transactions: 9/4/19
Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Released from IR via injury settlement: RB Senorise Perry
Dallas Cowboys
- Released from IR via injury settlement: WR Codey McElroy
Houston Texans
- Released from IR via injury settlement: LB B.J. Bello
Kansas City Chiefs
- Released from IR via injury settlement: CB Michael Hunter
Los Angeles Chargers
- Released from IR via injury settlement: TE Ben Johnson
Miami Dolphins
- Released from IR via injury settlement: LB Quentin Poling
Dolphins Release Nate Orchard
Edge rusher Nate Orchard survived cutdown day in Miami, but he couldn’t make it to Week 1. Per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the Dolphins have released Orchard (Twitter link).
Orchard, whom the Browns selected in the second round of the 2015 draft, posted four sacks for the Fins this preseason, and he looked primed to open the 2019 campaign as a starting defensive end. Now, one of last year’s “Hard Knocks” stars will have to look elsewhere, though his strong showing this summer should earn him another opportunity fairly quickly.
The move is somewhat surprising given that Orchard is still young enough (26) for a rebuilding outfit like the Dolphins to carefully evaluate him over the course of the season. Plus, as Jackson notes in a full-length post, defensive line coach Marion Hobby praised Orchard at length just hours before he was cut. Hobby said, “[t]hat was the biggest thing, just watching him on tape. You can see from day one that he can run, that he can do some good stuff. I think he’s been doing a good job of taking coaching and sometimes you have to keep him focused.”
Without Orchard, Miami’s DE depth chart consists of Charles Harris, UDFA Jonathan Ledbetter, and recent waiver claim Avery Moss.
In a related move, the Dolphins claimed LB James Crawford off waivers from the Packers.
NFL Workouts: 9/2/19
In the wake of all the cuts that have taken place over the past few days, there are a ton of players looking for new homes. Many teams are bringing guys in for tryouts, and we’ll keep track of all of today’s here, all courtesy of veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer (on Twitter).
There were a few notable names, including former-first round pick offensive guard Joshua Garnett, who worked out for the Seahawks. The 49ers drafted Garnett 28th overall in 2016, and he started 11 games as a rookie. He then missed the entire 2017 season with an injury, and didn’t make any starts last year. The 49ers were able to save $1.7MM by cutting him, and they jumped at the opportunity. Perhaps he’ll be able to revive his career with an NFC West rival.
The Dolphins are hosting offensive tackle J’Marcus Webb, who has plenty of starting experience. After trading away Laremy Tunsil, the Dolphins are understandably looking for tackle help. Webb started 16 games for the Raiders as recently as 2015, and one for the Colts last season before being placed on IR. He’s been around since 2010, and spent his first three seasons as a starter with the Bears. As Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald quipped in a tweet, it’s “not optimal” that the Dolphins are potentially looking for a starting tackle six days before the opener.
The Bills appear to be looking for a punter, as they worked out a group of them today.
Here’s the full list:
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
- OT Chidi Okeke
Kansas City Chiefs
- WRs Reggie Davis, J’Mon Moore, QB Tanner Lee
Miami Dolphins
- OT J’Marcus Webb
New Orleans Saints
Seattle Seahawks
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/2/19
We’ll keep track of Monday’s practice squad moves here:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: LB Jamal Carter, WR Brandon Powell
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: G Sam Jones
- Released: QB Drew Anderson, WR A.J. Richardson
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: QB Davis Webb, WR Tyron Johnson, LB Nate Hall
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: OT Wyatt Miller
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: WR Ventell Bryant, QB Clayton Thorson
Detroit Lions
- Signed: LB Jason Cabinda
- Released: TE Austin Traylor
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: LB Jamal Davis, RB Quinton Flowers, DT Brian Price, WR Chad Williams
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: QB Chase Litton
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: DB Alex Brown, LB Emmanuel Smith, DE Cameron Malveaux, DB Torry McTyer
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: OT Zach Sterup, LB Terrill Hanks
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: WR Davion Davis
New England Patriots
- Signed: DE Gerri Green, G Najee Toran, G Colby Gossett
- Released: OT Tyree St. Louis
New York Giants
- Signed:CB Corn Elder, WR David Sills
New York Jets
- Signed: RB Josh Adams and TE Ian Bunting WR/KR Greg Dortch
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: WR Marcell Ateman, DE Quinton Bell, G Lester Cotton, Sr., RB Damarea Crockett, WR Rico Gafford, CB Dylan Mabin, CB Nick Nelson, LB Justin Phillips, DT Anthony Rush, TE Eric Saubert
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: CB Craig James
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: WR Johnny Holton
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: OT Ryan Pope
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: CB Ryan Neal, OL Kahlil McKenzie, DE Jachai Polite
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: TE Jordan Leggett, RB Tony Brooks-James
Washington Redskins
- Signed: LB Chris Odom
Dolphins Cut Vincent Taylor
The Dolphins have released defensive tackle Vincent Taylor, per a team announcement. To take his place, the club signed fellow DT John Jenkins. Meanwhile, the Dolphins also inked long snapper Taybor Pepper, which seals the end of John Denney‘s storied run with the team.
[RELATED: Dolphins Cut John Denney]
Taylor only played in eight games last year as a reserve before a foot injury knocked him out for the second half of the season. But, when he was on the field, he was one of the Dolphins’ most effective interior defensive linemen. Taylor, who tallied 27 tackles and two sacks, will now look for work elsewhere.
The Dolphins cut Denney on Monday afternoon, but there was some speculation that he could be brought back after some roster juggling. That, apparently, won’t be the case. The 40-year-old is out in Miami and a player 15 years his junior is taking his place.
Dolphins Release John Denney
The John Denney era could be over. On Monday morning, the Dolphins released their long snapper and longest-tenured player.
Denney, 40, was re-signed in February, setting the 40-year-old up for a 15th season in Miami. The good news is, that could still happen – the Dolphins are not rostering any other long snappers at the moment, so this could just be a bit of roster juggling from the Dolphins. Before the end of business on Tuesday, we should have a better picture of the Denney’s future.
Denney also boasts a streak of playing in 224 consecutive games, which is the longest active streak in the NFL. He’s tied for the longest streak ever for a long snapper and he’ll own that record outright if he plays somewhere in Week 1.
New Saints LB Kiko Alonso Adjusts Deal
The Dolphins planned to release linebacker Kiko Alonso until the Saints agreed to a swap sending fellow ‘backer Vince Biegel to South Beach. Before the deal was finalized, Alonso agreed to an adjusted contract to facilitate the trade, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. 
The revised contract will give Alonso a fully-guaranteed $5MM – with no offsets – by next week. The Saints will pay $4MM of that sum while the Dolphins will kick in $1MM. Meanwhile, the last year of his contract remains untouched – Alonso is set to earn $6.4MM in base salary with an $8.2MM cap figure in 2020, though the Saints could escape that year with little financial consequence. Cutting Alonso before the start of the year would save $6.4MM against the cap with just $1.76MM in dead money.
Traditional metrics portray Alonso as a solid linebacker who can defend against the pass. But, despite his five interceptions over the last three years, he gets little love from the advanced metrics for his coverage ability.
Algorithms, schmalgorithms, is what the Saints say. Alonso’s help will be greatly appreciated in New Orleans while Alex Anzalone and Craig Robertson continue to heal up from injury.
Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC East
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC East teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Bills, Dolphins, Jets and Patriots are noted below.
Additionally, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads today. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s AFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.
Buffalo Bills
- Signed to practice squad:
- TE Nate Becker
- CB Cam Lewis
- OL Erik Magnuson
- DT Kyle Peko
- RB Christian Wade*
- WR Duke Williams
- DE Eddie Yarbrough
Miami Dolphins
- Claimed:
- DE Trent Harris
- LB Deon Lacey
- DE Avery Moss
- DB Steven Parker
- DB Ken Webster
- Waived:
- LB Terrill Hanks
- DB Montre Hartage
- TE Chris Myarick
- OL Zach Sterup
- DL Adolphus Washington
New England Patriots
- Signed to practice squad:
- TE Stephen Anderson
- LB Terez Hall
- FB Jakob Johnson
- DL Ufomba Kamalu
- LB Calvin Munson
- OL Dan Skipper
- OL Tyree St. Louis
- DL Nick Thurman
New York Jets
- Claimed:
- WR Braxton Berrios
- DE John Franklin
- DB Bennett Jackson
- K Kaare Vedvik
- Released:
- Waived:
- Signed to practice squad:
- OL Calvin Anderson
- OL Ben Braden
- CB Kyron Brown
- QB Luke Falk
- RB Valentine Holmes*
- LB Jamey Mosley
- WR Jeff Smith
* = International Pathway Program player
Dolphins Host WR Eli Rogers
One of the biggest names the Steelers cut as they trimmed their roster down to 53 yesterday was receiver Eli Rogers. Rogers entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2015, and had been with Pittsburgh ever since.
It looks like the Louisville product might land on his feet pretty quickly, as he already had a visit with the Dolphins earlier today, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). After spending his entire rookie season on injured reserve, Rogers had a breakout 2016 campaign. He earned Ben Roethlisberger’s trust and ended up starting eight games, catching 48 passes for 594 yards and three touchdowns.
He wasn’t nearly as productive in 2017 although he still had a role, but he tore his ACL in the playoffs that year. He struggled to make his way back from the injury, and ended up appearing in only three games last year. In those three games he caught 12 passes for 79 yards. The Steelers re-signed him to a two-year deal in March, but he was unable to crack Pittsburgh’s deep receiving corp. The Dolphins are entering a full-blown rebuild and just traded away Kenny Stills, so perhaps Rogers will find a new home in Miami.
More On Jadeveon Clowney Trade
A pair of blockbuster trades were consummated on cutdown day, one of which featured Jadeveon Clowney heading to Seattle. More details on that trade and how it went down may come out over the next couple of days, but here’s a roundup of what we have so far:
- Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that the Texans paid Clowney a $7MM signing bonus while the Seahawks will pick up the remaining $9MM of Clowney’s 2019 salary (Twitter link). The trade was already viewed as a big win for Seattle, and this tips the scales even further in the Seahawks’ favor. Critically, the Seahawks have promised Clowney that they will not put the franchise tag on him in 2020.
- At one point, the Dolphins believed they were the frontrunners for Clowney, and when the trade to Seattle was first reported, we heard that Miami and the Texans were indeed headed towards a deal before Clowney made it clear that he would refuse to play for the Fins. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald confirms that report and says the Dolphins and Texans were on their way to a trade that would have sent Clowney and two very high picks to Miami in exchange for LT Laremy Tunsil, but Clowney’s aversion to South Beach scuttled that (Twitter link). Of course, the two sides did agree to a Tunsil trade, it just didn’t include Clowney.
- Jackson adds in a separate tweet that the Dolphins only really considered Clowney a bonus, not necessarily a long-term piece. The team really wanted premium draft capital in a Tunsil trade, and that’s ultimately what Miami got.
- Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network says that, when Clowney did not report to the Texans after their third preseason game, as Houston had expected, the team’s leverage was reduced even further. And when Clowney suggested that he was willing to miss regular season action if he was not traded, the Texans had to act to make the best deal they could (Twitter link).
- Clowney will re-hire longtime agent Bus Cook, whom he had fired less than a week ago, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.