Montell Garner

Steelers Trim Roster To 53

The Steelers have reduced their roster to the league-mandated 53 players.

The following players have been cut:

As Fowler observes, the Steelers’ recent wave of offensive lineman cuts could be good news for B.J. Finney, who came into today firmly on the roster bubble. Feiler, like Feeney, is a practice squad candidate.

Hooks, an Ole Miss product, was signed by the Packers as a UDFA following the 2015 draft, but Green Bay cut him last August as part of the 75-man cutdown. He caught on with the Steelers in February, and at least made it to the final cutdown day, so that qualifies as progress.

Ahmed was part of the Falcons’ crop of UDFAs this year but was waived by Atlanta last month. The Temple product made the switch from defensive lineman to offensive lineman during his junior year, and he started 12 of 13 games at left guard for the feel-good Owls last year.

Rory Parks contributed to this post

Workout Notes: 2/9/16

NFL’s 2016 free agent period doesn’t officially open until March 9th, but players who didn’t finish the season on a roster – or who have since been cut – are free to work out with teams and sign contracts right away. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle has several updates on those free agents who are visiting and/or auditioning for NFL teams, so let’s round up the latest:

  • Before he agreed to sign a reserve/futures contract with Washington, former Steelers first-round defensive lineman Ziggy Hood tried out for the Raiders. Oakland also brought in former Fresno State edge defender Tristan Okpalaugo for a visit (Twitter links).
  • Veteran defensive back Jeromy Miles and ex-Broncos tight end Dan Light recently auditioned for the Chiefs (Twitter link). Miles, who has appeared in 67 career regular-season games for the Bengals and Ravens, was cut last September by the Giants, while Light lost his practice squad spot in Denver following the team’s AFC Championship win over New England.
  • The Bengals recently worked out – but did not sign – offensive tackle Sean Donnelly, safety Zach Elias, running back Alonzo Harris, running back Storm Johnson and wide receiver Rico Richardson (Twitter link). Those players were part of a larger group of eight, with the remaining three players earning contracts.
  • Former Cowboys defensive tackle Ken Bishop, a seventh-round pick in 2014, worked out for the Buccaneers (Twitter link).
  • Former Pitt offensive guard Jason Pinkston recently visited the Steelers (link). The Steelers also recently worked out linebacker Jordan DeWalt-Ondijo, wide receiver Issac Blakeney, long snapper Matt Dooley, defensive back Montell Garner, offensive guard Cole Manhart, wide receiver Tobais Palmer, cornerback Al-Hajj Shabazz, and defensive tackle Josh Watson (Twitter links).

Minor NFL Transactions: 2/4/16

Today’s minor signings, cuts, and other moves from around the NFL:

  • The Chiefs have signed former UConn wide receiver Kashif Moore to a reserve-futures deal, according to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter). Moore, a New Jersey native, has spent time with the Steelers, Bengals, Texans, Colts, and Chargers.
  • The Steelers announced that they have signed wide receiver Issac Blakeney, cornerback Montell Garner, wide receiver Tobais Palmer, and cornerback Al-Hajj Shabazz to reserve-future deals.
  • The Seahawks signed wide receiver Tyler Slavin to a futures contract, as Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times tweets. Slavin was on Seattle’s practice squad for a short time this season.

Workout Notes: 12/16/15

It’s been a busy last couple of days around the NFL, with teams still looking to fill up their squads for the rest of the season. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweeted a whole bunch of workout notes this afternoon, which we’ve compiled for you below…

Arizona Cardinals

  • CB Mitchell White (link)

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Read more

Workout Notes: Saints, Seahawks, Jaguars

Today’s workouts from around the NFL..

  • The Jets worked out defensive end Lawrence Okoye, Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com tweets. Okoye, a former University of Kentucky discus hurler, had previous stops with the 49ers and Cardinals.

Earlier updates:

NFC Notes: Ellington, Cowboys, Eagles

Cardinals running back Andre Ellington suffered a PCL sprain in Sunday’s game, as first reported by Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link) and confirmed by head coach Bruce Arians (Twitter link via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com). While Anderson suggested a recovery timetable of two to three weeks for Ellington, Arians indicated his running back could just miss one week, and the team hasn’t ruled him out for its Week 2 game yet.

If Ellington isn’t able to practice by Friday, it will likely lead to a flurry of roster moves for the Cardinals, according to Arians. As ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss tweets, the team could promote running back Kerwynn Williams to its roster for next Sunday’s game against the Bears.

  • With Dez Bryant expected to miss at least a month, the Cowboys will sign a wide receiver for depth purposes, tweets Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter link), on the other hand, hears that the team is still undecided on whether to sign a receiver. If Dallas signs a wideout, I wouldn’t expect him to play a major role in the offense in Bryant’s absence.
  • Sam Bradford‘s start in tonight’s game eliminates the possibility of the Eagles getting the Rams‘ 2016 third-round pick, as Adam Schefter of ESPN notes. Philadelphia would have received that pick if Bradford hadn’t been able to play a game this season due to injury. Now, it’s worth watching whether or not the former first overall pick will play 50% of the Eagles’ offensive snaps — if he doesn’t, Philadelphia will get St. Louis’ 2016 fourth-rounder.
  • Former Eastern Washington offensive tackle Jake Rodgers, cut earlier this month by the Falcons, has a tryout with the Saints on Tuesday, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (Twitter link).
  • Three defensive backs – former Rams cornerback Montell Garner, ex-Seahawks safety Ryan Murphy, and former Bengals safety Floyd Raven – worked out for the Packers, tweets Rob Demovksy of ESPN.com. Green Bay also auditioned defensive end Martin Ifedi, a 2015 seventh-round pick who was cut by St. Louis.
  • Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News examines 49ers CEO Jed York‘s legacy in San Francisco.
  • If St. Louis wants to keep the Rams, one critical issue to work through is who will pay cost overruns, a source tells Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter link).

Davis, Jones Among Rams’ Final Cuts

Thought to have the upper hand in the Rams’ center competition, Barrett Jones was one of St. Louis’ roster cuts as it trimmed to 53 players (according to Myles Simmons of the team’s website).

Tim Barnes and Demetrius Rhaney ended up sticking on the roster due to having better positional versatility than Jones, an Alabama product who the Rams took in the fourth round in 2013, per ESPN.com’s Nick Waggoner.

An undrafted free agent in 2011, Barnes is listed as the Rams’ starting snapper.

The Rams also waived Austin Davis, who started eight games for the team last season in Sam Bradford‘s absence. Davis threw for over 2,000 yards and completed 63.4% of his passes in his first game sample.

Here are the rest of the Rams’ cuts:

  • Alex Bayer, TE
  • Emory Blake, WR
  • Malcolm Brown, RB
  • Christian Bryant, S
  • Justice Cunningham, TE
  • Marcus Fortson, DT
  • Montell Garner, CB
  • Jacob Hagen, S
  • Martin Ifedi, DE
  • Zach Laskey, FB
  • Matt Longacre, DE
  • Marshall McFadden, LB
  • Brandon McGee, CB
  • Trovon Reed, CB
  • Daniel Rodriguez, WR
  • Louis Trinca-Pasat, DT
  • Brandon Washington, OL

Rams Sign 15 Undrafted Free Agents

FRIDAY, 2:33pm: The Rams have officially announced their undrafted free agent signings, adding five more players to the list of 10 below, bringing their total to 15. Here are the five new names:

  • Isiah Ferguson, WR, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
  • Montell Garner, DB, South Alabama
  • Matt Longacre, DL, Northwest Missouri State
  • Cameron Lynch, LB, Syracuse
  • Keshaun Malone, LB, Bacone

SUNDAY, 4:41pm: After adding nine picks in the 2015 NFL draft, the Rams have agreed to sign another 10 undrafted players, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

  • Malcolm Brown, RB, Texas
  • Imoan Claiborne, CB, Northwestern State
  • Terrence Franks, RB, Texas State
  • Jacob Hagen, S, Liberty
  • Jay Hughes, S, Mississippi State
  • Zach Laskey, FB, Georgia Tech ($3K bonus, per Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun)
  • Bradley Marquez, WR, Texas Tech
  • Tyler Slavin, WR, New Mexico-Highlands
  • Louis Trinca-Pasat, DT, Iowa ($15K bonus and $10K of base salary guaranteed, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press)
  • Darrell Williams, T, South Florida