NFL Workout Notes: 10/8/19
Here are today’s workout updates. There are a number of notable names on this list, so pay attention!
Arizona Cardinals
- LB Shane Ray
Baltimore Ravens
- DE Fadol Brown, S Demetrious Cox, DE Dewayne Hendrix, S A.J. Howard (signed to practice squad), DB C.J. Reavis
Buffalo Bills
- DE Alex Barrett, RB Senorise Perry (signed to 53-man roster), LB Wyatt Ray (signed to practice squad)
Carolina Panthers
Cleveland Browns
- WR Jeff Badet
Denver Broncos
- CB David Amerson, CB Chris Campbell, CB Deatrick Nichols, CB Shareece Wright
Detroit Lions
- WR Quincy Adeboyejo, WR Bennie Fowler, WR Emanuel Hall
Green Bay Packers
- TE Rico Gathers, DL Mike Pennel, DL Adolphus Washington, TE Cole Wick, DT Sylvester Williams, TE Ethan Wolf (signed to practice squad)
Houston Texans
- C Marcus Henry, DT Willie Henry, DT Brian Price, C Keegan Render
Indianapolis Colts
- DT Carl Davis, LB Obum Gwacham, DE Eli Harold, DL Joel Heath, DL Damontre Moore, LB Pita Taumoepenu, DL Ethan Westbrooks
Jacksonville Jaguars
- TE Brian Parker, TE Eric Tomlinson, TE Will Tye
Los Angeles Chargers
- S Shalom Luani, S Tre Sullivan
New England Patriots
- DB Brian Allen, K Nick Rose, DT Eddie Vanderdoes
Oakland Raiders
- DE Andre Branch, LB Kasim Edebali, OL Datone Jones, DE Terrence Fede, LB Nate Orchard
Philadelphia Eagles
- WR Penny Hart, LB Paul Worrilow
Seattle Seahawks
- CB Adonis Alexander, DB Brian Allen, CB Saivion Smith
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- WR Cyril Grayson, RB Darius Jackson, QB Chad Kanoff, WR Caleb Scott, RB David Williams
Tennessee Titans
- RB Jeremy McNichols, RB Zach Zenner
Washington Redskins
- OL Malcolm Bunche (signed to practice squad), LB Darrell Williams
Rob Gronkowski Joins FOX
Rob Gronkowski is returning to football, but not in the way that you might have hoped. Gronk will join FOX’s broadcast team for Sunday NFL broadcasts, Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link) hear. 
Gronk retired this offseason, leaving a void in the Patriots’ offense. Granted, the Pats are still 5-0 without him, and even discarded Ben Watson before he could return from his suspension, but any offense would be bolstered by the presence of the future Hall of Famer.
Since retiring, Gronkowski has been open about his own openness to return to the game, eventually.
“My body feels good. I can even take it further physically, and I could play right now,” Gronkowski said in August.
Then again:
“Mentally, the desire to play just isn’t there. I would have to literally just feel that desire – just feel that mentally, that desire to play, to be back out there,” Gronk said. “Like someone is calling my name, I would have to feel that inside. I would have to feel that on a consistent basis. That’s the way I would entertain coming back to football.”
For the time being, the broadcast booth is as close as Gronk will get to the gridiron.
Patriots To Cut Benjamin Watson
That’s a wrap on Ben Watson‘s second stint with the Patriots. The Pats have declined to activate Watson and will release him, making him a free agent (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss). 
We’ve seen Bill Belichick tinker with the roster before, so it’s theoretically possible that Watson could return to the Pats later this season, perhaps at a cheaper rate. But, for the time being, the club will cut ties and save $2MM against the cap.
Watson, 38, missed the first four games of the season while serving a PED suspension. He returned to practice last week, but he was not added to the roster in time to face the Redskins on Sunday. The Patriots easily handled the Redskins, beating them 33-7 and sending Jay Gruden packing in the process.
For now, the Pats seem content to move forward with Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo as their tight ends. LaCosse played 73 offensive snaps for New England over the weekend and Izzo caught the first touchdown pass of his NFL career.
Antonio Brown Files Grievances Against Raiders, Patriots
It was an inevitably, but free agent wideout Antonio Brown has now filed his much-discussed grievances against the Raiders and Patriots, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports. We learned last week that Brown could be filing the following grievances:
• Fine appeals with the Raiders: $215K
• Salary guarantees with the Raiders : $29MM
• Signing bonus with the Raiders: $1MM
• Unpaid Week 1 salary from the Raiders: $860K
• Salary guarantees with the Patriots: $1MM
• Signing bonus with the Patriots: $9MM
• Unpaid Week 3 salary from the Patriots: $64K
• 2020 option year with the Patriots: $20MM
Rapoport confirms that all of the above grievances have been filed except the one concerning the 2020 option year with the Patriots, which felt like a major longshot anyway. In sum, Brown is seeking roughly $40MM in unpaid salary and bonuses.
However, Brown’s grievances are unlikely to be heard until the spring. Recent reports have suggested that AB stands a good chance of recouping the $9MM signing bonus from New England, but he could have a tough time recovering most of the other amounts.
We heard earlier this week that the NFL has yet to interview Brown concerning the sexual assault/rape allegations levied against him, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk — while acknowledging that Brown does not merit any sympathy — says the NFL could be deliberately slow-playing the situation to keep Brown out of the league. After all, no team will sign Brown while the league continues to stay silent as to whether the embattled wideout is destined for the commissioner’s exempt list, and the league doesn’t really have to say anything until its investigation is concluded (the last step of which is the interview with Brown). That’s not a violation of the collusion provisions of the CBA, but it is a convenient loophole.
GMs Expecting Active Trade Deadline
The NFL has experienced a dramatic rise in significant trades over the past several years, and there may be a few noteworthy swaps going down this month as we get closer to the October 29 trade deadline. Indeed, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says there is a sense among general managers that we may see more trades in advance of this year’s deadline than ever before, largely because there is a larger gulf between pretenders and contenders than in seasons past (indeed, there are still six winless teams, which is the highest number at this point in the season since the 1970 merger).
La Canfora says the teams most actively laying groundwork for potential deals are the Saints, Eagles, Ravens, Chiefs, Patriots, and Seahawks. Of course, a number of those clubs have already been pursuing Jacksonville CB Jalen Ramsey, and the Saints, Eagles, Ravens, and Chiefs are casting a wide net for cornerback upgrades.
One of this year’s still-winless clubs, the Broncos, are reportedly more open to moving veteran pieces than they were last year, as La Canfora writes in a separate piece, with Derek Wolfe, Chris Harris, and Emmanuel Sanders all generating interest. Wolfe could make sense for Baltimore, and the Saints are expected to renew their pursuit of Sanders. Even Von Miller could be on the block, per La Canfora, especially since all of his major bonuses and guarantees have already been paid. Miller, 30, is reportedly open to a change of scenery at this point, but Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network says the Broncos will not trade him (video link). However, the other players mentioned above could be available if Denver continues to scuffle.
But while Denver may be willing to talk shop, rival GMs are skeptical that the 0-4 Bengals, led by old-school owner Mike Brown, will be amenable to moving big-name vets despite their fading fortunes. La Canfora’s sources say Cincinnati could net a first-round pick for WR A.J. Green if the acquiring club is able to work out a new contract with him as a condition of the trade (and if Green recovers from his foot injury soon). The Patriots and Saints could make a push for Green or Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert, and Cincy could also swing deals for players like Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap if the club is willing to listen to offers.
Like fellow winless outfits Denver and Cincinnati, the Jets could be active in shopping veteran players in advance of the deadline. La Canfora specifically names Kelechi Osemele and Leonard Williams as players who could be on the move, though he says there has been no trade chatter surrounding Le’Veon Bell at this point.
Finally, though the 0-4 Redskins have been steadfastly refusing to trade Trent Williams, some believe that the team will relent at some point and will ship Williams to a contender in need of O-line help.
Patriots TE Ben Watson Won’t Play Sunday
The Patriots will have to wait at least a week for Ben Watson to hit the field. ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter) that the veteran tight end didn’t travel with the team to Washington and won’t be playing vs. the Redskins tomorrow.
The 38-year-old briefly retired this offseason before joining the Patriots, the team that drafted him back in 2004. Shortly after signing with New England, Watson was hit with a four-game suspension after testing positive for a banned substance. The veteran ended up missing Wednesday’s practice, which was an indication that he might not be ready to go this weekend.
With the retirement of Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots have been relying on Ryan Izzo and Matt LaCosse early on this season. While Watson is getting older, he’ll provide Tom Brady with another reliable target. The tight end took on more of a backup role in 2018 with the Saints, but he still finished with 35 receptions for 400 yards and two touchdowns.
The Patriots have until 4 p.m. on Monday to activate Watson to the 53-man roster.
Patriots To Sign Younghoe Koo
The Patriots will sign Mike Nugent to serve as their new kicker, but they’re not stopping there. In addition to that move, they’ll also add Younghoe Koo to the practice squad, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. 
[RELATED: Patriots Place Stephen Gostkowski on IR]
Koo, 25, appeared in four games for the Chargers in 2017, connecting on three of his six field goal attempts and all nine of his extra point tries. Recently, he had a stint in the Alliance of American Football, before its abrupt ending midway through its inaugural season.
Koo’s struggles with the Bolts are well-documented, but his talent is clear. He did enough in ’17 to beat out Josh Lambo for the top job and the Patriots see enough potential in him to keep him on the ten-man squad.
He’ll be on standby in New England as a safety net for Nugent, who is taking over for Stephen Gostkowski.
Patriots To Sign Mike Nugent
It appears that the Patriots’ kicking competition has come to a close. Mike Nugent will likely be signed as the club’s replacement for the injured Stephen Gostkowski, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter).
As Garafolo notes, Nugent’s teams have gone 0-for-5 in the playoffs, so this could be Nugent’s best possible opportunity to taste postseason victory. Across 14 seasons, Nugent has nailed 81.4% of his field goals – a rate that isn’t on a par with Gostkowski’s career work. Then again, few kickers can rival the storied career of Gostkowski.
Nugent spent three games with the Raiders last year and nailed all six of his tries. Before that, the 37-year-old kicked for the Jets, Bengals, Bears, and Cowboys.
Patriots To Work Out Younghoe Koo, Josh Gable
The Patriots will work out more kickers on Thursday, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. They’ll audition free agent Younghoe Koo, plus Josh Gable, who became a viral video sensation for his ludicrous accuracy. 
Gable plied his craft with the IFL’s Nebraska Danger and spent the 2017 rookie minicamp with the Pats. The Patriots liked what they saw from him, but did not have a pressing need for a kicker with the great Stephen Gostkowski handling kicking duties. That all changed this week, when the Patriots learned that Gostkowski was done for the season due to a hip injury.
Koo, meanwhile, has been on the workout circuit and the NFL’s fringes since his rocky start with the Chargers. As the Bolts’ kicker for the first quarter of the 2017 season, he bricked three key field goals that wound up costing them wins in the first two weeks of the season.
On Wednesday, the Pats took a gander at Kai Forbath, Elliott Fry, Mike Nugent, Blair Walsh, and Matthew Wright. It seems likely that they’ll reach a consensus and sign a new kicker before the end of business on Thursday. In a couple of days, they’ll travel to take on the Redskins.
Patriots Work Out Five Kickers
The Patriots are in need of a new kicker after placing Stephen Gostkowski on injured reserve earlier today, and they worked out five free agents on Wednesday. New England took a look at Kai Forbath, Elliott Fry, Mike Nugent, Blair Walsh, and Matthew Wright today, tweets Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com.
New England will need another kicker for Sunday’s contest against the Redskins, but the club doesn’t seem to be acting with any sense of urgency. The Patriots are not expected to sign a kicker today and may bring in more free agents on Thursday, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The Chargers also held kicker auditions today, which created travel issues for several free agents, per RapSheet.
Nugent by far the most experienced of the kickers that tried out for the Patriots, having attempted more than 300 field goals during his career, but both Walsh and Forbath have each attempted more than 100 kicks each. Fry lost the Bears’ kicking competition over the summer, while Wright is an undrafted rookie free agent.
Meanwhile, Kaare Vedvik — who was traded from the Ravens to the Vikings this offseason before briefly landing with the Jets — declined to work out for the Patriots, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link), who adds Vedvik is focusing on punting and kickoffs rather than field goals.