Practice Squad Updates: Tuesday
They may not be the sort of deadline-day transactions we’re hoping for, but some teams around the league are making roster moves, adding and subtracting players from their respective practice squads. We’ll track the latest updates below:
- The Broncos have added receiver Douglas McNeil to their practice squad, reports Troy Renck of the Denver Post. An Arena League standout, the 26-year-old McNeil caught 66 balls for 858 yards and 18 touchdowns in 11 games for the Portland Thunder. He takes the practice squad spot of John Boyett, who was released last week following his arrest for assault.
- The Colts announced receiver Chandler Jones was signed to their practice squad at the expense of running back Jeff Demps. This will be Jones’ second stint with the Colts this season, while Demps’ stay with the team lasted just a week. Jones is an undrafted free agent out of San Jose State, where he is the school’s all-time leading receiver.
- The Giants have cut linebacker Carlos Fields from their practice squad, according to NJ.com’s Jordan Raanan (via Twitter).
- Running back Ben Malena has replaced cornerback Kendall James on the Texans‘ practice squad, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
- The Rams have signed offensive tackle Steven Baker to their taxi squad, per Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). The club had plenty of space to add Baker without cutting a player, but released quarterback Garrett Gilbert from the practice squad nonetheless, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com.
- Wideout Tavarres King has signed to the Buccaneers‘ practice squad, says Caplan (via Twitter). The team doesn’t have any openings on its PS, but after today’s trades, there are two spots available on the active roster, so I imagine at least one player is in line for a promotion.
Earlier updates:
- The Dolphins performed a bit of an overhaul on their practice squad today, adding tight end Evan Wilson, tight end Gerell Robinson, and cornerback Rashaan Melvin to replace quarterback Seth Lobato, tight end Jake Murphy, and defensive back Rod Sweeting, per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (Twitter links).
- With backup running back Stepfan Taylor expected to be sidelined for the near future, the Cardinals have added some backfield insurance via their practice squad, signing running back Zach Bauman, writes Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. Cornerback Anthony Gaitor has been waived to make room for the new addition.
- Wide receiver Jace Davis, who was with the Ravens during training camp and the preseason, has re-signed with the team’s practice squad, according to a press release. Davis takes the 10th and final spot, which had been vacated after tight end Phillip Supernaw was promoted to the active roster on the weekend.
Minor Moves: Tuesday
While we’re tracking today’s practice squad signings and cuts in one post, and we’ve made note of more significant transactions in their own posts, we’ll use this space to round up the day’s minor moves relating to teams’ 53-man rosters:
- The Giants are signing cornerback Mike Harris off of the Lions’ practice squad to their active roster, reports Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (via Twitter). As Twentyman notes, Detroit didn’t have space on its active roster to promote Harris.
- The Seahawks have opened up a pair of roster spots by cutting wide receiver Phil Bates and tight end Brett Brackett, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter).
- One defender has replaced another in Houston, where the Texans have signed linebacker Zac Diles and released cornerback Elbert Mack, per John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
- According to Brian Costello of the New York Post (via Twitter), cornerback Marcus Williams has been promoted to the Jets‘ active roster from their practice squad, replacing A.J. Edds, whose release is discussed below.
Earlier updates:
- The Raiders have waived linebacker Bojay Filimoeatu, the team announced today (via Twitter). The move leaves an open spot on Oakland’s 53-man roster, which the team has yet to fill.
- The Rams have confirmed they’ve placed tackle Jake Long on injured reserve, making room for linebacker Korey Toomer, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. The signing of Toomer is noted below.
- Defensive end Greg Latta has been cut from the Broncos‘ injured reserve list, tweets Aaron Wilson.
- The Saints placed wide receiver Joe Morgan on the reserve/suspended list today, re-signing tight end Tom Crabtree to replace him on the 53-man roster, tweets Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. As Triplett notes, head coach Sean Payton didn’t specify the reason for Morgan’s suspension, but it’s the latest obstacle for a player who looks increasingly unlikely to stick in New Orleans beyond this season.
- The Bills have put safety Kenny Ladler on injured reserve with an arm injury, tweets Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. Ladler signed with the team in May as an undrafted free agent out of Vanderbilt, started the season on the practice squad, and had been promoted to the active roster earlier this month.
- Linebacker Korey Toomer has been promoted from the Rams‘ practice squad to their active roster, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). It’s not clear yet what the corresponding move is, but Jake Long and Brian Quick are both expected to be placed on injured reserve any day now.
- Over at The National Football Post, Wilson has the details on another roster move, writing that the Jets have cut linebacker A.J. Edds. Primarily a special teams contributor, Edds had also been serving at a backup at all three linebacker spots.
NFC Notes: Cardinals, Falcons, Giants
With less than one hour remaining until the trade deadline for 2014 passes, there’s been little Tuesday action around the league. If the Cardinals don’t make a move though, it won’t be for lack of trying, according to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic. Somers tweets that the Cards have made “many calls” in search of a pass rusher, but haven’t had any luck so far.
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- In explaining his philosophy on roster-building to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com, Falcons owner Arthur Blank indicated that he prefers his team to make most of its major moves in the offseason rather than during the season.
- While the Giants will miss Jon Beason, there shouldn’t be much of a step down at middle linebacker when the team plugs in Jameel McClain, writes Jordan Raanan of NJ.com. As Raanan observes, the Giants signed Beason to a three-year deal in the offseason, but given his frequent battles with injuries, the club could look to get out of the contract this winter.
- In a separate NJ.com piece, Raanan writes that the Giants don’t seem particularly interested in signing any of their players to in-season extensions. That includes top defenders Jason Pierre-Paul and Antrel Rolle, whose contracts expire at season’s end.
- According to David Newton of ESPN.com (Twitter links), Panthers coach Ron Rivera said today that placing linebacker Chase Blackburn on injured reserve was a tough move and that he doesn’t think Blackburn will require surgery on his injured knee.
Monday Roundup: Cutler, Trades, Landry
Our Zach Links wrote earlier that Bears GM Phil Emery is not currently thinking about parting ways with head coach Marc Trestman, and Emery and Trestman both reaffirmed their support for embattled quarterback Jay Cutler one day after Chicago’s embarrassing Week 8 loss to the Patriots. As Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com writes, Emery and Trestman remain committed to Cutler, attempting to accentuate the positives in their signal caller’s performances while acknowledging the struggles.
Emery claimed that his club’s decision to stick with Cutler has nothing to do with Cutler’s salary, but ESPN’s John Clayton is understandably skeptical. In his “Clayton Minute” video segment, Clayton says that, given the Bear’s $18MM annual commitment to Cutler, Chicago simply has no other choice than to hope that Cutler can right the ship.
- Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun Times writes that Emery has been approached with “two or three interesting” trade proposals, but nothing that helps the Bears win in 2014. As Emery stated that the team is far from giving up hope on this season.
- Derek Carr is showing tremendous promise and the Browns have to be second-guessing their decision to target Johnny Manziel in the draft instead of him, writes Jodie Valade of the Plain Dealer.
- Browns head coach Mike Pettine says that the team’s phones are ringing but cautions that the deadline brings few trades in comparison to the amount of talk that happens, tweets Nate Urlich of the Akron Beacon-Journal.
- Citing ESPN’s Adam Schefter, CSNBaltimore.com staff reports that the league has levied a $1.4MM salary cap charge on the Ravens as a result of Ray Rice‘s grievance against the club. According to Schefter, it is normal practice for the NFL to make such a move when a grievance is pending. Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun writes that the cap charge reduces the Ravens’ cap room to about $4.1MM. Baltimore may need to utilize some of that room, as star cornerback Jimmy Smith is expected to miss “a few weeks” with a left foot sprain, according to Garrett Downing of BaltimoreRavens.com.
- Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt said that his club is unlikely to make any more trades,according to Terry McCormick of TitansInsider.com (via Twitter).
- The Colts are in no hurry to bring back LaRon Landry after his four-game PED suspension, writes Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star.
- Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com looks at how Jon Beason‘s salary, and the Giants‘ salary cap, will be affected by Beason’s season-ending injury.
Zach Links contributed to this post
NFC East Notes: Allen, Eagles, Giants, Cowboys
Here’s a glimpse at the NFC East, where the Cowboys are in first place at 6-1..
- Safety Nate Allen‘s poor performance might have come at a bad time yesterday as speculation swirls about the Eagles potentially looking for a replacement on the trade market, writes CSNPhilly.com’s Geoff Mosher. Coach Chip Kelly took to the airwaves earlier today to say that his club isn’t looking to make a deal, but Allen hurt his hamstring yesterday, which could amp up the pressure to make a move.
- Kelly made it clear this afternoon that the Eagles aren’t in the market for a safety, but they’ll listen, tweets Zach Berman of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “No we’re not looking into safeties. …If someone calls us and says they want to give us their safety, we’ll take their safety,” Kelly said.
- Cowboys wide reciever Dez Bryant, who is working on a new deal with the club, has parted ways with agent Eugene Parker, according to Ross Jones and Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Parker fired his agent last week and will be eligible to hire a new one on Wednesday (link).
- The Giants need their key offseason acquisitions – starting guard Geoff Schwartz, running back Rashad Jennings, and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie – to get heatlhy and play as expected in order to make a run at the playoffs this season, writes Jordan Raanan of the Star-Ledger.
- The draft has helped the Cowboys recover from the ruins of the 2012 salary cap penalty, but it hasn’t done the same for Washington. John Keim of ESPN.com compares the two franchises and looks at how they reached their respective points. All of the Cowboys’ starting offensive linemen began their careers in Dallas and three – left tackle Tyron Smith, center Travis Frederick, and right guard Zack Martin, were first-round choices. Washington’s O-line, meanwhile, was built largely off of players who started off with other teams and they haven’t been nearly as productive as their divisional counterparts.
- Earlier today, the Giants learned that Jon Beason‘s season is over.
NFC Mailbags: Panthers, Peppers, Beatty, Reese
We took a look at ESPN’s AFC mailbags earlier today. Let’s check out what ESPN’s NFC writers had to say…
- David Newton thinks it’s pretty clear that the Panthers will focus on their offensive line in the upcoming draft. Meanwhile, he doesn’t expect the team to consider a running back until at least the third or fourth round.
- If Julius Peppers return to the Packers next season, it would have to be with a restructured contract, writes Rob Demovsky.
- Todd Archer says that Jerry Jones certainly deserves some credit for the Cowboys‘ success this season.
- Dan Graziano writes that the Giants will have an interesting decision to make this offseason with left tackle Will Beatty. If the team decides to part ways with the former second-rounder, they could target an offensive lineman in the draft or free agency.
- Graziano clarifies that Giants general manager Jerry Reese is not on the hot seat and is not in any danger of losing his job.
East Notes: Beckham Jr., Kerley, Pryor, Murray
Giants rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was always destined for greatness, writes Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “My mom told me when I was four years old…I was outside playing, she came outside and said ‘What are you doing?’ I looked in her eye and told her I was practicing for Sundays. She said the way I said it she had no choice but to believe it,” the LSU product said. Here’s more from the AFC and NFC East..
- Jeremy Kerley‘s new four-year extension with the Jets calls for $14MM in new money, including a $3MM signing bonus, according to Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter). ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan reported earlier this week that the wide receiver has $5.4MM in guaranteed salary under the new deal.
- Jets coach Rex Ryan told reporters today that first round pick Calvin Pryor hasn’t “had the impact necessarily that all of us had expected,” writes Cimini. Part of that probably has to do with the hard-hitting Louisville product playing out of position. Pryor made a name for himself by delivering highlight reel hits near the line of scrimmage. Instead, he’s playing deep-middle safety thanks to the Jets’ injuries in the secondary.
- Bob Sturm of The Dallas Morning News is really high on Georgia running back Todd Gurley. In fact, in a hypothetical where the Cowboys could part ways with DeMarco Murray and replace him with Gurley rather than franchising him or re-signing him to a big long-term deal, he would go with the rookie tailback. Of course, Dallas will have to make their call on whether to franchise Murray in advance of the draft and it doesn’t seem like Gurley, projected to be a top ten pick, will be around when the Cowboys are on the clock.
Extra Points: Bears, Rice, Sam, Rivers
Worried about potential unrest in Chicago? Brandon Marshall isn’t. “We’re great,” Marshall said of his relationship with quarterback Jay Cutler in an appearance on Showtime’s Inside The NFL (video link). Still, one has to wonder if the Bears offense can get back on the same page this season and make a run for the NFC North crown. More from around the NFL..
- As expected, Ray Rice has filed a grievance against the Ravens, challenging the team’s decision to terminate his contract, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. If Rice is successful in his grievances against both the Ravens and the NFL, he would be eligible to receive $3.52MM from Baltimore.
- Michael Sam figures to find another NFL opportunity thanks to his motor, writes Tom Pelissero of USA Today. The linebacker was released from the Cowboys‘ taxi squad earlier today.
- Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is on his way to joining the $20MM quarterback club, writes Joel Corry of CBSSports.com. Since the start of the 2013 season, Rivers has enjoyed a career revival and has arguably been the league’s second-best quarterback behind Peyton Manning.
- A source tells Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter) that RB Alex Green had a “good workout” with the Giants today, but the team isn’t signing him at this time. Big Blue won’t be inking Felix Jones to a contract either, but he’ll be on the team’s “short list” if and when a tailback is needed (link).
- Former Giants center Jim Cordle worked out for the Titans recently, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Cordle suffered a partially torn patella but Caplan says he’s been healthy for a while.
- With Derrick Coleman hurt, the Seahawks worked out veteran fullbacks Tony Fiammetta, Greg Jones, and Will Tukuafu, tweets Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports.
- The Titans got something for nothing when they sent Akeem Ayers and a seventh-round choice to the Patriots earlier today for a sixth-round pick, opines Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. Ayers is in his contract year and wasn’t contributing much to the Titans. Of course, the Titans wish things worked out differently with their former second-round pick.
- The NFL could wind up installing two personal conduct policies: one for players and one for all other NFL employees, including owners, writes Peter King of The MMQB. The policy for non-players could be hammered out by Thanksgiving and the players policy should be completed after that.
Giants Worked Out Felix Jones, 14 Others
4:31pm: The Giants worked out 15 players in total, according to Jordan Raanan of NJ.com, who provides the full list of participants. Here are the 11 new names:
- Jonathan Baldwin, WR
- Ted Bolser, TE
- Travis Coons, K
- Jack Cornell
- Jake Dombrowski, P
- Nate Freese, K
- Dion Lewis, RB
- Robert Malone, P
- Antoine McClain, G
- Tyler Ott, LS
- D.J. Williams, TE
12:00pm: After losing back-to-back divisional matchups against the NFC-leading Cowboys and Eagles, the Giants are entering their bye week, and are taking the opportunity to look at a handful of free agents. According to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link), running backs Felix Jones and Alex Green are working out for the team.
Green, a former third-round pick who started his career with the Packers, was cut by the Jets in August and has auditioned for the Lions and Panthers since then. As for Jones, there haven’t been many reports on the former Cowboy this year, which is somewhat surprising — while he didn’t do much in limited action for the Steelers last season, he had recorded over 100 carries in each of his previous four seasons in Dallas, and is still just 27 years old.
The fact that the Giants are working out running backs shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as a sign that Rashad Jennings‘ recovery is moving slowly, or that the team is looking to add a player at the position. It’s more likely that New York is simply gauging the options in the market at several spots in case the club needs to dip into free agency later in the season.
In fact, Josina Anderson of ESPN reports (via Twitter) that quarterback Terrelle Pryor is also visiting the club today, while Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post adds tight end Tony Moeaki to the list of players auditioning. The Giants’ workout group this work is expected to be large, as Jordan Raanan of NJ.com tweets, so several more participants will likely be reported soon.
NFC East Notes: Eagles, Giants, Redskins
The NFC East looks to be a competitive division, at least near the top, where the Cowboys and Eagles have a combined record of 11-2. Let’s take a look at some injury updates from Philadelphia, New York, and Washington:
- Making his weekly appearance on CSNPhilly, Eagles guard Evan Mathis said he has been cleared to resume practicing (Twitter link via Adam Caplan of ESPN). Mathis, who sprained his MCL in Week 1, is on injured reserve/designated to return and isn’t eligible to return to game action until Week 10.
- Mathis also told CSNPhilly that center Jason Kelce, who has been sidelined since Week 3, is “ahead of schedule” in his recovery from a sports hernia, and could play for the Eagles again as soon as Week 9 (Twitter link via Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer).
- Though Giants linebacker Jon Beason is expected to travel to North Carolina to meet with an ankle specialist, New York has no intention of shutting down the veteran as of yet, according to Jordan Raanan of the Star-Ledger.
- Meanwhile, guard Geoff Schwartz is expected to begin practicing next week, but he likely won’t make his regular season debut for the Giants until Week 9, per Raanan.
- The Redskins will be without linebacker Brian Orakpo for the rest of the season, leading John Keim of ESPN.com to examine how Washington will aim to replace a key cog in its defense. Rookie Trent Murphy will see more snaps, and a team source tells Keim that the Redskins will consider re-signing Rob Jackson, who played for the team until 2013.