NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/17/15
Here are Thursday’s practice squad signings and cuts from around the NFL:
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: DE Josh Shirley (Twitter links via Scott Bair of CSNCalifornia.com)
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: CB Stanley Jean-Baptiste (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times)
- Signed: QB B.J. Daniels (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle)
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: RB DuJuan Harris (Twitter link via team)
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: CB Tyler Patmon, DE Julius Warmsley, RB Trey Williams (Twitter links via Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/17/15
As teams prepare for Week 15’s slate of games, let’s round up the latest minor transactions from around the league….
- A day after he was cut by the Patriots, wide receiver Damaris Johnson has been claimed off waivers by the Titans, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. Johnson, who previously played in the AFC South with the Texans, had inked a two-year contract with New England, so Tennessee picks up the 2016 year on that deal as well.
- The Chargers have claimed offensive lineman Jeff Linkenbach off waivers from the Dolphins, according to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). The team cut quarterback Brad Sorensen, whom it signed on Saturday as a result of Philip Rivers‘ illness, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The timing of today’s waiver claims is worth noting, since San Diego will play Miami just three days from now, while Tennessee will face New England.
- The Colts made a change to their 53-man roster today, cutting outside linebacker Daniel Adongo and replacing him by promoting cornerback Tay Glover-Wright from their practice squad, per a team release. Adongo’s release comes just a week after police were called to his house, but Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star hears from a source that the case is closed and no further action is expected. It’s not clear if today’s move was motivated by that incident.
Titans Place Derrick Morgan On IR
THURSDAY, 4:32pm: The team placed Morgan on injured reserve, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
MONDAY, 3:42pm: Titans defensive end Derrick Morgan will have shoulder surgery and miss the remainder of the year, according to Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com (on Twitter). Ditto for Dexter McCluster, who will undergo season-ending surgery on his wrist (link).
Back in March, the Titans re-signed Morgan to a four-year, $27MM deal with $10.5MM of that fully guaranteed. Morgan’s return to Tennessee was a little surprising, since he was widely considered a better fit as a 4-3 defensive end, and has never really lived up to his first-round billing in five seasons with the Titans. However, despite modest sack totals (his 6.5 in 2014 matched a career high), Morgan graded as a top-10 outside linebacker according to PFF, which ranked him eighth in 2014 and credited him with 49 total quarterback pressures. Morgan paid visits to the Falcons and Buccaneers in the spring and was reportedly scheduled to hit Dallas for a meeting with the Cowboys. Instead, he circled back to Tennessee.
In 10 games (9 starts) in 2015, Morgan has amassed 24 tackles and 4.5 sacks with two pass deflections and one forced fumble. The versatile McCluster, meanwhile, has tallied 507 catching and receiving yards for the Titans in 2015.
Rams To Place Quinn, McDonald On IR
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 4:22pm: St. Louis placed Quinn on its IR list, ending his season, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Defensive tackle Doug Worthington will ascend to the active roster in Quinn’s place, Nick Waggoner of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 4:45pm: The Rams will place two key defensive players on injured reserve this week, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com, who tweets that defensive end Robert Quinn and safety T.J. McDonald will both land on season-ending IR within the next day or so. According to head coach Jeff Fisher, Quinn will require back surgery, while McDonald will require surgery on his shoulder (Twitter link).
Quinn, 25, is one of the league’s best pass rushers, having racked up double-digit sacks every year from 2012 to 2014. However, injuries have slowed him down this year, limiting him to just eight games. He recorded five sacks and three forced fumbles in those contests.
As for McDonald, he has started 37 games at safety for the Rams since joining the team in 2013, including 11 this season. McDonald and teammate Janoris Jenkins had a nasty collision during the Rams’ loss to the Cardinals on Sunday — in addition to sidelining McDonald, the hit also left Jenkins with a concussion.
The Rams will have two open roster spots to add defensive reinforcements prior to the team’s Week 14 game against the Lions.
North Notes: Gordon, Mallett, Megatron
Browns wideout Josh Gordon will be eligible to apply for reinstatement from his suspension in February, and if Gordon gets the go-ahead from the NFL to return to action, head coach Mike Pettine would welcome him back with open arms, tweets Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “Absolutely we would,” Pettine said. “He’s a Cleveland Brown.”
Of course, given the way the Browns have played this season, it’s fair to be skeptical that Pettine will even be around to make that decision in February — it’s possible Cleveland will have hired a new head coach by then.
As we wait to see what the future holds for Pettine and Gordon, let’s check in on a few more items from around the NFL’s North divisions….
- The two-year deal Ryan Mallett signed with the Ravens is basically a $1.6MM pact, says Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links). Of course, most of that money will be due next season, and the quarterback’s 2016 salary (about $1.5MM) is non-guaranteed. If Mallett does make the team, he can earn an extra $500K for playing just 1% of Baltimore’s regular snaps, and $1MM if he plays 10% of the snaps, maxing out the year at $2.5MM, tweets Field Yates of ESPN.com.
- “Lovely” isn’t a word that makes its way into NFL interviews too often, but that was the adjective Calvin Johnson used today to describe the possibility of finishing his career with the Lions, as Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com details.
- Willie Young‘s transition from defensive end to outside linebacker hasn’t always been smooth, but it has gone better than expected, and it looks like Young could have a future with the Bears, writes Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.
Chiefs To Extend OT Jah Reid
1:34pm: Reid’s three-year extension can be worth up to $12MM, with a $10.2MM base value, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Rapoport adds that the contract features just under $4MM in guaranteed money.
12:37pm: The Chiefs have agreed to a deal with offensive tackle Jah Reid that will extend the lineman’s contract by three years, reports Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (Twitter link). Reid’s contract had been set to expire at the end of the 2015 season.
Reid, 27, was selected by the Ravens in the third round of the 2011 draft, but never found a permanent role in Baltimore. Over the course of four seasons with the club, he appeared in 39 games, starting seven, before being cut earlier this year. The Chiefs signed Reid prior to the regular season, and he has been unexpectedly effective in Kansas City, starting eight games for the team — the Chiefs are 7-1 in those games.
“Jah has been a good pickup for us, just from the stand point of we got banged up up front there, and so he was thrown in, kind of, in the action his first week here against the Texans,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said this week, per Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. “A couple games after that, he played, and then he had a little hiatus there, where he didn’t play; and we’ve had to bring him back here. So, he has been very valuable to us from that respect.”
Pro Football Focus hasn’t been particularly fond of Reid’s play, ranking him 71st out of 75 qualified offensive tackles this season, giving him an especially low grade as a pass blocker. However, the Chiefs liked what they’ve seen enough to ensure the UCF product doesn’t reach the free agent market this winter.
We’ll have to wait for the full salary details on the new three-year extension, which should keep Reid under team control through 2018, to see exactly how enthusiastic Kansas City is about his performance — it’s not clear if the team views him as a long-term starter, or as more of a swing tackle. Even a modest deal will represent a raise for Reid though, since he played this season on a minimum salary contract that didn’t include a signing bonus.
Trade Rumors App For iOS/Android
As the NFL’s 2016 offseason approaches, you can follow all the latest news and rumors with the Trade Rumors app for iOS and Android devices! Here are some of the features of the app:
- Customize your home screen. The app has feeds for Pro Football Rumors, MLB Trade Rumors, and Hoops Rumors by default, but if you’re more of a one- or two-sport person, you can easily remove and reorder feeds. You can also add a feed for any of the 92 MLB, NFL, or NBA teams, as well as the thousands of players in the archives of our three sites. Please note that the default ordering puts MLB Trade Rumors on your home screen, but you can easily go into Settings to reorder and add or remove feeds.
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East Notes: Henderson, Fitzpatrick, Bradford
Having recently started listing Seantrel Henderson on the injury report with an “illness,” the Bills and head coach Rex Ryan declined to get into specifics on Henderson’s condition. However, Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News hears from an NFL source that Henderon has been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel condition. Per Carucci’s source, the Bills’ right tackle “has experienced severe stomach pain and has lost nearly 20 pounds.”
A seventh-round pick in 2014, Henderson started all 16 games in his rookie season in Buffalo, and had started 10 games for the team this year before he was sidelined. Carucci indicates that the former Miami Hurricane is expected to miss the rest of this season, though it’s not clear how the diagnosis will affect him going forward.
Here’s more from around the NFL’s East divisions:
- Ryan Fitzpatrick is on track to play in more than 70% of the Jets‘ offensive plays this season, which is good news for the Texans, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. If Fitzpatrick remains above that threshold, Houston will receive a sixth-round pick from New York, rather than a seventh-rounder.
- While Chip Kelly and the Eagles have expressed interest in having Sam Bradford on the roster in 2016 and beyond, the quarterback himself has been noncommittal, preferring to postpone that conversation until after the season, as Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News writes. Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer observes that Bradford’s recovery from his ACL injury has been similar to the path taken by Carson Palmer, so perhaps a Palmer-esque extension would work for Bradford and the Eagles.
- Former Giants defensive end Damontre Moore is ready for a fresh start with the Dolphins, and spoke to reporters about his departure from New York. James Kratch of NJ.com has the details and the quotes.
Giants Sign Barry Cofield, Cut Brandon Meriweather
THURSDAY, 9:13am: The Giants have officially signed Cofield, the team announced today in a press release.
WEDNESDAY, 2:15pm: The Giants are making a change on defense, signing one veteran player while cutting another, according to reports. Dan Graziano of ESPN.com tweets that New York is waiving safety Brandon Meriweather, while ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that defensive tackle Barry Cofield will fill the newly-created opening on the roster.
Cofield, who started his career with the Giants, suffered his first major injury in 2014, as he missed about half the season after an ankle injury forced him onto the injured reserve list with the designation to return. While the defensive lineman returned to action for Washington in November, he only started three of eight games for the season, marking the first time since 2007 that he appeared in a game he didn’t start.
The 31-year-old underwent offseason hip surgery, which kept him on the free agent market for longer than expected, but it appears the Giants liked what they saw of Cofield during an early-December workout, resulting in him landing an NFL job.
Meriweather, a starting safety for the Giants’ first 11 games, has been inactive during the last two weeks as he deals with a knee issue. The 31-year-old, who is currently ranked 67th by Pro Football Focus out of 86 qualified safeties, had 53 tackles and a pair of interceptions for New York this season. Based on the official announcement from the Giants, it doesn’t appear that Meriweather was cut with an injury designation.
West Notes: Manning, Houston, Boone, 49ers
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak announced that Brock Osweiler would continue to start for his team in Week 15, with Trevor Siemian serving as the No. 2 quarterback (Twitter link via Troy Renck of the Denver Post). That means Peyton Manning will be inactive for another week, despite the fact that he has returned to practice.
If and when Manning gets healthy, he has earned another shot at the starting job, in the view of Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports. Osweiler had all the momentum after his first couple starts, but the Broncos are coming off a home loss and haven’t scored an offensive touchdown in seven quarters. If he continues to struggle this weekend against the Steelers, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Manning return to action to play Cincinnati in Week 16, assuming he’s ready to go by then.
Here’s more from out of the NFL’s West divisions:
- As first reported by Rand Getlin of the NFL Network (Twitter link), Chiefs pass rusher Justin Houston paid a visit to Dr. James Andrews recently, tweets Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star. According to Getlin, there was “some fear” that Houston could miss the rest of the regular season, but there’s been no official word yet on the 26-year-old’s status.
- Veteran guard Alex Boone – who is expected to be sidelined for the rest of the season – has likely played his last game for the 49ers, having not gotten close to a long-term extension with the team, writes Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. Still, while he’s looking forward to free agency, Boone says he’d “love to hear an offer” from the Niners.
- Shortly after a San Francisco Chronicle columnist speculated about the York family selling the 49ers, co-owner John York acknowledged on Wednesday that he has been disappointed by the on-field results this season. However, as Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News details, York also said his family is “extremely passionate” about the Niners, and is looking ahead to the future of the franchise.
- Writers and columnists for the Bay Area News Group looked into their crystal balls to attempt to determine who will be back and who won’t be for the 49ers in 2016.