We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: WR Greg Dortch
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: OL Cordel Iwuagwu
Green Bay Packers
- Activated from PS-IR: C Corey Linsley
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: OL Patrick Omameh
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Placed on IR: QB Trace McSorley
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: WR Dez Bryant, DB Geno Stone
- Promoted: TE Eric Tomlinson
Houston Texans
- Claimed off waivers from Browns: RB Dontrell Hilliard
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: OL Ben Bartch
Los Angeles Chargers
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: S Derwin James; James remains on IR
Minnesota Vikings
- Placed on IR: CB Kris Boyd
- Activated off IR: CB Mark Fields
New Orleans Saints
- Claimed off waivers from Raiders: G Patrick Omameh
New York Giants
- Waived: CB Brandon Williams
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed off Washington’s practice squad: C Ross Pierschbacher
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed off Chiefs’ practice squad: OL Danny Isidora
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from IR: CB Kristian Fulton
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: P Bradley Pinion, K Ryan Succop, LS Zach Triner
We’ll keep track of the latest minor moves here:
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted from practice squad: TE Eric Tomlinson
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: CB Lafayette Pitts
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted: WR Ja’Marcus Bradley
- Waived: RB Dontrell Hilliard
Denver Broncos
- Signed: CB Parnell Motley
- Placed on COVID-19 list: K Brandon McManus
Indianapolis Colts
- Placed on COVID-19 list: LB Jordan Glasgow
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Waived: LB Reggie Gilbert
Las Vegas Raiders
- Waived: G Patrick Omameh
New York Giants
- Waived: DB JaQuarius Landrews
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed off Washington’s practice squad: C Ross Pierschbacher
Although Richie Incognito avoided an Achilles tear, he will not return to the Raiders’ starting lineup for a while. The Raiders are placing the veteran guard on IR, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
Incognito left Monday night’s game with an Achilles injury and will be out until at least Week 6. The Raiders moved rookie John Simpson into Incognito’s left guard spot against the Saints, pointing to the fourth-round Clemson product making a Week 3 start.
The Raiders gambled on the polarizing Incognito in free agency last year and were rewarded when the experienced blocker helped the team form one of the league’s top offensive lines. The Raiders then extended the 37-year-old guard through the 2021 season.
Viewed as a potential player who could replace offseason trade chip Gabe Jackson, Simpson instead saw time opposite Jackson in New Orleans. Pro Football Focus rated Incognito as one of its better guards last season, viewing him as an elite pass-blocking guard, and again had him off to a good start in 2020. Prior to Incognito missing the 2018 season amid more off-field trouble, he went to three straight Pro Bowls as a member of the Bills.
Las Vegas will fill Incognito’s roster spot with Patrick Omameh, a veteran guard who has made 57 career starts in eight NFL seasons. The Raiders added Omameh to their practice squad ahead of their Week 2 game.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Recent practice squad notes from around the league:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: C Jonotthan Harrison
- Released: T Victor Salako
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: WR Hakeem Butler
- Released: S T.J. Green, T Aaron Monteiro
Chicago Bears
- Signed: LB Devante Bond
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: TE Kyle Markway
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: TE Eric Saubert
- Released: DB Josh Nurse
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: OL Patrick Omameh
- Placed on practice squad IR: WR Marcell Ateman
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: RB Troymaine Pope
Miami Dolphins
- Suspended four additional games: WR Antonio Callaway
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: DE Anthony Zettel
- Released: DB Grant Haley
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: OL Brandon Walton
Of course, the big news here surrounds Callaway. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (via Twitter) that the wideout has earned an additional four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. This means he’ll be eligible to return to the field in Week 8.
Callaway will continue to sit on the Dolphins’ practice squad suspended list, per Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com. The 23-year-old will still be allowed to attend meetings, but he can’t practice with the squad until his suspension ends.
The talented wideout out of Florida fell to the Browns in the fourth round of the 2018 draft thanks in part to a 2016 four-game suspension from former head coach Jim McElwain. Callaway immediately contributed in Cleveland, hauling in 43 receptions for 586 and five scores during his rookie campaign. However, the receiver was suspended for the first four games of the 2019 season after violating the substance-abuse policy, and he underwhelmed in the four games following his return (eight receptions, 89 yards).
He was slapped with a 10-game ban late last year, and the suspension was supposed to last through the third week of the 2020 season. Thanks to the latest suspension, Callaway won’t see the field through the first seven weeks of the season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Here is how the Saints moved their roster down to 53 players Saturday:
Waived:
- LB Joe Bachie
- WR Emmanuel Butler
- WR Austin Carr
- DE T.J. Carter
- LB Andrew Dowell
- TE Garrett Griffin
- CB Kemon Hall
- WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey
- WR Juwan Johnson
- RB Tony Jones Jr.
- OL Jordan Steckler
- TE/QB Tommy Stevens
- OL Calvin Throckmorton
- C Cameron Tom
- DB Keith Washington
- TE Ethan Wolf
Released:
- LB Anthony Chickillo (story)
- DL Mario Edwards (story)
- WR Bennie Fowler
- G Patrick Omameh
- DL Margus Hunt
Waived/injured:
- RB Saquan Hamilton
Placed on reserve/PUP:
- LB Kiko Alonso
Placed on IR:
Placed on reserve/suspended list:
- OL James Hurst
The Saints made some notable cuts on their defensive line, dropping Edwards and Hunt. The former played with New Orleans last season, while the latter was an offseason addition. The Colts cut Hunt earlier this year, doing so after previously extending him. However, New Orleans does have Malcom Brown back and re-signed David Onyemata in March. The Saints are pursuing Jadeveon Clowney as well.
Alonso suffered a torn ACL in the playoffs last year. He will miss at least six games. The Saints signed Fowler over the summer. The former Broncos auxiliary receiver worked out with Drew Brees and Emmanuel Sanders during the pandemic-induced NFL hiatus.
Stevens, like most of the players cut Saturday, profiles as a practice squad candidate. The Saints became involved in a strange controversy over the seventh-round pick, whom the Panthers coveted. It will be interesting to see if Carolina submits a waiver claim on Stevens.
Details on a couple of recent NFL deals (Twitter link via ESPN’s Field Yates unless otherwise specified):
- Aaron Colvin, CB (Redskins): One year. Veteran salary benefit. $910K base salary, $137.5K signing bonus.
- Ty Montgomery, RB (Saints): One year. Veteran salary benefit. $910K base salary, $137.5K signing bonus.
- Patrick Omameh, OL (Saints): One year. Veteran salary benefit. $1.05MM base salary, $137.5K signing bonus.
- Chris Thompson, RB (Jaguars): One year. $1.05MM base salary. $250K signing bonus, $100K available in roster bonuses.
Patrick Omameh has re-signed with the Saints, as Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets. Financial terms of the deal are not yet known.
Omameh has spent time with a number of teams, but he’s perhaps best known for his ill-fated free agent deal with the Giants in 2018. After two years with the Jaguars, the G-Men inked him to a three-year, $15MM deal. Dave Gettleman saw something in the former undrafted free agent that didn’t quite surface in New York, but he wasn’t alone. Other clubs were in on the bidding and the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus positioned him as the No. 36 qualified guard in the NFL just one year earlier. In other words, Omameh wasn’t a first-rate blocker, but his $5MM AAV wasn’t outlandish.
Unfortunately, Omameh struggled in his first fall with the Giants. He was cut in November of that year; at the time, PFF had him just 61st out of 75 qualified guards. After finishing out the year with his old friends in Jacksonville, Omameh joined the Saints in the summer of ’19. Now, he’ll return to reprise his interior depth role.
Last year, Omameh appeared in 14 games for the Saints with just one start. For his career, Omameh’s suited up for 81 games with 57 starts, mostly coming with the Bucs and Jaguars.
Earlier today, it was reported the Saints were hosting free agent offensive lineman Patrick Omameh. That meeting apparently went well, as New Orleans signed the veteran on Sunday night, the player’s agent reports [Twitter link].
Since entering the league as UDFA in 2013, Omameh has racked up 56 games in his career and serves as valuable depth on a loaded New Orleans’ offensive attack.
He started all 16 games for the Buccaneers in 2014, and played 14 games for the Bears in 2015. He suited up for the Jaguars in the next two two seasons before inking a three-year, $15MM contract with the Giants last March. Omameh didn’t even last a full season with the Giants, who benched him in October and cut him in November after an underwhelming showing.
After being cut by the Giants, Omameh returned to the Jaguars and started six games down the stretch. After opening the year at right guard with the Giants, he finished the campaign largely on the left side of the Jacksonville line.
Free agent O-lineman Patrick Omameh will try out for the Saints today, per Mike Triplett of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Omameh would provide experienced depth at either guard or tackle for the NFC South favorites.
Omameh has done well for himself considering he entered the league as a UDFA back in 2013, though he has bounced around quite a bit. He started all 16 games for the Buccaneers in 2014, and he played 14 games (nine starts) for the Bears in 2015. He suited up for the Jaguars over the following two seasons before inking a three-year, $15MM contract with the Giants last March.
At the time, that deal felt like an overpay and an overreaction to the fact that Big Blue missed out on one of their top free agent targets, Andrew Norwell. And indeed, Omameh didn’t even last a full season with the Giants, who benched him in October and cut him in November after an underwhelming showing.
The Michigan product rejoined the Jaguars — who, coincidentally, were the winners of the Norwell sweepstakes — and proceeded to start the final five games of the season for them. However, he did not do much to earn significant interest on the open market this year, and his visit to New Orleans marks the first reported interest in him in 2019.
Still, he has started 56 games over his career, and it makes sense that New Orleans would want to kick the tires on such a player at this point in the year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.