NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/2/19
Today’s practice squad updates:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: DL Jeremiah Ledbetter
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: WR Tyron Johnson
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: S Josh Jones
Houston Texans
- Signed: TE Jerell Adams
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: OL Tyree St. Louis
New England Patriots
- Signed: WR Kelvin McKnight
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: QB Taryn Christion
- Released: TE Alize Mack
Washington Redskins
- Signed: WR Darvin Kidsy
Patriots Sign S Jordan Richards
The Patriots have signed free agent safety Jordan Richards, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
New England should be quite familiar with Richards, as Bill Belichick & Co. drafted the former Stanford standout in the second round of the 2015 draft. Despite his draft pedigree, Richards never became much more than a special teams ace during his time with the Patriots, as his season-high in defensive snaps was 272 (2017).
Richards saw much more defensive action after New England traded him to Atlanta prior to the 2018 campaign in a deal that netted the Patriots a 2020 seventh-round pick. After the Falcons were decimated by injuries to their defensive unit, Richards made 12 starts and played on 42% of the club’s defensive snaps, posting 39 tackles and three passes defensed in the process.
The Patriots are well-stocked in their defensive backfield, with Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung, and Duron Harmong seeing the majority of the snaps. Richards will slot in as a special teams option alongside fellow reserves Nate Ebner and Terrence Brooks.
Patriots Place Stephen Gostkowski on IR
The Patriots’ kicker workout from earlier today now makes a lot more sense. New England is placing longtime kicker Stephen Gostkowski on injured reserve, a source told Jim McBride of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Furthermore – a mid-season return has already been ruled out, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. Gostkowski’s left hip injury will require season-ending surgery, but he is expected to be ready to go for next season. 
Gostkowski has been the Patriots’ kicker since 2006, and nobody else has attempted a kick for the Pats since he missed some time back in 2010. Something clearly wasn’t right with him, as he’s already missed four extra points and a field goal so far this season. New England is undefeated, but obviously Bill Belichick isn’t going to get complacent with a weakness. It’s unclear exactly what injury he’s dealing with, and it’s possible the Patriots are just using IR to let one of their most respected veterans save face.
That being said Gostkowski is still only 35, so he shouldn’t be declining too much just yet. The Patriots have always had a very stable kicking situation, as Gostkowski took over as Adam Vinatieri, who had handled New England’s kicking game for the previous ten seasons. Gostkowski just signed a new two-year deal with the team back in April. If this is the end of the road for him with the Patriots, he’ll leave town as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. We’ll likely receive word of a kicker signing shortly.
Patriots To Work Out Kickers
The Patriots might be eyeing potential replacements for Stephen Gostkowski. On Wednesday, the Patriots will audition kickers, according to ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss. The names of the kickers in the tryout are not yet known.
The Patriots are rolling, but the usually stellar Gostkowski is not. In the last three weeks, he’s botched four extra points and a field goal, which is troubling even though the Pats remain undefeated.
Like many teams, the Patriots routinely hold mass tryouts to update their emergency lists in the event of injuries. However, this kicker cattle call does not feel like a pure coincidence, given the 35-year-old’s recent struggles.
Gostkowski made 84.4% of his kicks last season and owns a career 87.4% accuracy rate across 14 seasons. He also has a tremendous jewelry collection thanks to his time with the Patriots, but Bill Belichick isn’t one for sticking with players for purely sentimental reasons.
Cody Kessler Earning Minimum With Pats
- Quarterback Cody Kessler signed a minimum contract with the Patriots, tweets Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. This means he’ll earn a prorated $720K salary (a bit less than $593K for the rest of the season) with no guaranteed money and a $448K “injury split.” This essentially means the Patriots can evaluate Kessler’s spot on the roster on a week-by-week basis.
[SOURCE LINK]
Patriots Release Cameron Meredith
The Patriots are throwing in the towel on Cameron Meredith. New England is releasing the veteran receiver, a source told Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
It’s another setback for the once promising wideout, who has been dealt a very tough hand in recent years. Meredith had been on the PUP list to start the season, and Yates notes that he was still unable to fully recover from his knee injury. There was an initial thought in the building that “2019 would be a year to get healthy with an eye toward 2020,” tweets Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, who notes that obviously “those plans have now changed.”
Meredith originally signed a two-year deal back in early August shortly after the Saints cut him. He initially signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois State back in 2015. The small-school product burst onto the scene in 2016 as he racked up 888 yards and four touchdowns. He looked like a potential star in the making and was set to enter 2017 as Chicago’s top receiver, until he tore his ACL and suffered other damage in his knee during the preseason.
He missed the entire season, but had still shown enough the year before to earn a two-year, $9.6MM offer sheet from the Saints. His knee continued to bother him during his time in New Orleans and he never got back to full strength, appearing in just six games and making only nine catches last year. After he again struggled with his knee this offseason, New Orleans cut bait. At this point, it’s fair to wonder if he’ll ever get back to his prior level.
After the Patriots released Antonio Brown, there was some hope that Meredith could come off PUP and provide their receiving corp with some reinforcements. They’ll now have to look elsewhere, and the return of rookie first-round pick N’Keal Harry, on injured reserve with an ankle injury, just got a lot more important.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/1/19
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: LB Ahmad Thomas, OT Lukayus McNeil
- Released: P Matt Wile, DE Austin Larkin
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: TE Darrell Daniels
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: WR Nick Easley
- Released: WR Jordan Veasy
Chicago Bears
- Signed: TE Bradley Sowell
Houston Texans
- Signed: OT Elijah Nkansah
- Released: OT Christian DiLauro
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: WR Marcus Johnson
- Released: DT Brian Price
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: DT Braxton Hoyett
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: DB Quenton Meeks, TE Matt Sokol, DE Jeff Holland
- Released: OL Chris Brown, S Adarius Pickett
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: CB Nate Meadors
New England Patriots
- Released: LB Scooby Wright
New York Giants
- Signed: LB Devante Downs, Da’Mari Scott
New York Jets
- Signed: OL Brandon Hitner
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: OT Jaryd Jones-Smith
- Released: OT Ryan Pope, OL Will Holden
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: OLB Jamal Davis II
- Released: DL Lyndon Johnson
Washington Redskins
- Released: CB Adonis Alexander
Patriots To Waive OL Caleb Benenoch
The Patriots are waiving offensive lineman Caleb Benenoch, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). Garafolo notes that Benenoch worked out for three clubs before signing with the Pats, so he might not be out of work for long. 
[RELATED: Antonio Brown Likely To Win Grievance Against Patriots?]
Reportedly, there were nine NFL teams requesting workouts with Benenoch before he hooked on with the Patriots in mid-September. Plenty of teams need offensive line help, but they might have to get in line – and sweeten the pot – to bring the longtime Bucs lineman into the kitchen.
Benenoch started every game of the 2018 season at right guard for the Bucs and also offers experience at tackle. And, he’s not necessarily a world-beater, but he does have 35 appearances to his credit (22 starts) with decent size at 6’5″ and 305 pounds.
In other New England news, former Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown is set to file up to nine appeals relating to contractual matters. That’s one grievance for every team that Benenoch drew interest from earlier this year.
NFL Workout Updates: 10/1/19
Here’s a look at the latest workouts from around the NFL:
Arizona Cardinals
- DL Joel Heath
- DL Zach Kerr
- DL Mike Pennel
- DL Caraun Reid
- DL Anthony Zettel
Atlanta Falcons
- LB Andrew Dowell
- LB Ahmad Thomas (signed with ATL p-squad)
Baltimore Ravens
- LB Josh Bynes
- LB Mason Foster
- DL Jeremiah Ledbetter
- DL Domata Peko
- LB Vincent Rey
- LB Dekoda Watson
Buffalo Bills
- WR Deontay Burnett
- DT Willie Henry
- DT T.Y. McGill
- WR Kermit Whitfield
Cleveland Browns
- TE C.J. Conrad
- OT Cody Conway
- DL Frank Herron
- DL Jeremiah Ledbetter
- C Daniel Munyer
Antonio Brown To File Up To Nine Grievances/Appeals
The Antonio Brown news machine keeps chugging along. Per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Brown is poised to file up to nine grievances/appeals, which would be a league-record number of filings generated from one season for one player (though as Mark Maske of the Washington Post tweets, no grievance has been filed yet).
Schefter helpfully summarizes the potential filings as follows:
• 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
• Potential appeal of NFL suspension
The consensus seems to be that Brown is likely to win his grievance against the Patriots for the $9MM signing bonus. However, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports confirms, that matter will probably not be resolved until 2020.
The NFL’s investigation into accusations of sexual assault/misconduct levied against Brown by two different women is ongoing. Despite reports that teams remain interested in Brown — reports championed by Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus — Brown himself has indicated that he is done with the NFL, and he recently enrolled in online classes at Central Michigan University.