Minor NFL Transactions: 10/2/18
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Waived: DT Justin Zimmer
Detroit Lions
- Waived: CB Dee Virgin
Indianapolis Colts
- Waived: RB Jeremy McNichols
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: DB Josh Shaw
- Waived: TE Alex Ellis
Los Angeles Rams
- Waived from injured reserve: LB Carlos Thompson
Oakland Raiders
- Signed off Titans’ practice squad: OL Ian Silberman
Philadelphia Eagles
- Promoted from practice squad: DT Treyvon Hester
- Waived: DT Bruce Hector
- Waived from injured reserve: OT Toby Weathersby
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: DB T.J. Green
- Placed on injured reserve: TE Will Dissly (story), S Earl Thomas (story)
- Waived from injured reserve: FB Khalid Hill
Practice Squad Updates: 10/2/18
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: S Darian Thompson, WR Bernard Reedy
- Cut: CB Demetrious Cox, LB Nigel Harris
Carolina Panthers
- Released: WR DeAndrew White
Houston Texans
- Signed: LB Tyrell Adams
- Cut: CB Breon Borders
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: LB Skai Moore, TE Erik Swoope, RB Jonathan Williams
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: OL Jamar McGloster
- Waived: DT Steven Richardson
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: DE/OLB Ja’Von Rolland-Jones, DB Linden Stephens
- Cut: DE Marcus Martin
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: DT Garrison Smith
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: DB Darius Hillary, G Will Holden, DB Chris Lammons, WR Tanner McEvoy
- Released: QB J.T. Barrett, T Rick Leonard, DB Arrion Springs, TE Deon Yelder
New York Giants
- Signed: T Jylan Ware
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: LB Kyle Wilson
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: WR Chad Hansen, LB LaTroy Lewis
- Cut: WR Kalif Raymond
Washington Redskins
- Signed: RB Mack Brown
NFL Workout Updates: 10/1/18
Today’s tryouts:
Buffalo Bills
Cincinnati Bengals
Chicago Bears
- OL Willie Beavers, Will Holden, Marcus Oliver, Menelik Watson
Green Bay Packers
- DEs Joey Mbu, Kendall Reyes
Houston Texans
New York Jets
- DEs Jared Crick, Anthony Lanier; G Jamil Douglas; FB Jalston Fowler; CB Sterling Moore; WRs Brandon Reilly, DeAngelo Yancey
Philadelphia Eagles
- S Robert Golden, Charlie Miller; LBs Dewey McDonald, Hayes Pullard
Steelers Actively Shopping Le’Veon Bell; Eagles, 49ers Interested
Last week, reports that the Steelers were listening to trade offers for running back Le’Veon Bell became the latest development in the long and winding Bell saga. Today, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (video link) reports that Pittsburgh is actively shopping Bell and is not simply waiting on calls from rival clubs.
In addition to the obvious complications to finalizing a Bell trade — which Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk laid out again today — Rapoport says that the Steelers’ asking price is reportedly too high for other teams at the moment. RapSheet indicates that Pittsburgh is currently asking for a second-round pick and a player in exchange for Bell, which another club is almost certainly not going to give up. Bell’s talent doubtlessly merits such a return, but the fact that he will effectively be a one-year rental — and an expensive rental at that — will limit what the Steelers can get in a Bell swap.
Right now, however, it appears that Pittsburgh is not in any rush to lower its demands. As Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports points out, the trade deadline is still a month away, and the Steelers are currently willing to let the market develop. La Canfora adds that the Jets and 49ers have made “exploratory calls” to Pittsburgh, though San Francisco’s interest in Bell may no longer be very high after the team lost starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for the season.
The Eagles, though, are also interested, per La Canfora. The Eagles are obvious contenders and have suffered a number of injuries to their backfield that could prompt the ever-aggressive Howie Roseman to get creative in his push for back-to-back titles. Philadelphia would of course need to clear some cap space in order to acquire Bell, but there are ways to do that (like jettisoning backup QB Nick Foles).
La Canfora writes that the Steelers would be willing to deal one disgruntled star for another by sending Bell to the Seahawks in exchange for safety Earl Thomas, but there has been no contact between Pittsburgh and Seattle at this point.
Indeed, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that no team has been aggressive in pursuing Bell thus far. That jibes with a tweet from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, who says that there is minimal trade buzz surrounding Bell at the moment.
Schefter also notes that, the longer Bell stays away from the Steelers, the more he could lose on his 2019 pay. For instance, if any team were to use the transition tag on Bell next season, the tag number would be 120 percent of this season’s salary, so the more 2018 game checks Bell misses out on, the lower the tag number would be. Of course, Bell could appeal such a matter to an arbitrator, but his holdout is becoming riskier with each passing week.
Alshon Jeffery To Play Today; Examining Eagles' Top Impending Free Agents
- Eagles WR Alshon Jeffery will make his 2018 debut today, per ESPN’s Chris Mortensen (via Twitter). Rapoport (video link) reports that Jeffery’s status for this week was up in the air because of a virus that made him seriously ill, but that his shoulder is good to go.
- As Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer observes, the Eagles have four prominent starters playing out the final year of their respective contracts: Jordan Hicks, Ronald Darby, Jay Ajayi, and Brandon Graham. Even if the Eagles wait until after the 2019 season to give quarterback Carson Wentz what will surely be a massive extension, Philadelphia has to plan for that contract now, which means the club will have some difficult decisions to make with respect to its impending free agents. McLane posits that Hicks is the most likely of the above-named players to be retained, and he examines the futures of all four players in detail.
Eagles A Fit For Le'Veon Bell?
- Gang Green resides as a possible landing spot for Le’Veon Bell, in the view of ESPN’s Josina Anderson (Instagram link). She lists the Jets, Eagles and Packers as being possible fits for the disgruntled running back. The Jets lead this trio with $16MM-plus in cap space. The Eagles hold less than $5MM. Bell is attached to a $10MM-plus prorated version of his franchise tag salary.
Eagles Place Rodney McLeod On IR
Eagles safety Rodney McLeod‘s season is presumably over. The team announced on Twitter that they’ve placed the safety on the injured reserve. The Eagles have promoted wideout DeAndre Carter to take the open roster spot.
McLeod underwent knee surgery earlier this week after suffering a torn MCL, and many assumed he’d ultimately land on the IR. However, Doug Pederson initially refused to comment about whether the safety would end up missing the remainder of the season. Instead, the head coach simply said the defensive back would be out for “a while.” Considering these comments, perhaps the Eagles are optimistic that McLeod could return to the field towards the end of the season.
McLeod signed a five-year, $35MM deal with the Eagles prior to the 2016 season. He’s proven himself to be worth the expenditure, as he has notched three interceptions in each of the last two years. After compiling 10 tackles and four passes defended through the first three weeks of this season, Pro Football Focus ranked McLeod as a top-20 safety in the NFL.
With McLeod sidelined, the Eagles will likely turn to Corey Graham as the replacement in the starting lineup. Otherwise, the team is rostering only two other healthy safeties: starter Malcolm Jenkins and recent trade acquisition Deiondre’ Hall. As our own Dallas Robinson notes, the safety market is starting to dry up, with Mike Mitchell, T.J. Ward, Lardarius Webb, Tyvon Branch, and Jairus Byrd among the top available free agents.
Carter has bounced around the league since going undrafted out of Sacramento State in 2015, spending time with the Ravens, Raiders, Patriots, and 49ers. He has one catch for 10 yards this season with Philly, and he could temporarily serve as a returner. The Eagles decision to promote Carter instead of practice squad safety Tre Sullivan could be an indication that Alshon Jeffery won’t be ready to go for tomorrow’s game against the Titans (as noted by Jeff McLane of Philly.com on Twitter).
Eagles Injury Notes: Sproles, McLeod, Clement, Jeffery
- The Eagles will be without Darren Sproles for at least another week, as the team ruled out the running back and safety Rodney McLeod according to Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Running back Corey Clement is questionable with a quadriceps injury, so the Eagles could yet again have a thin backfield. Alshon Jeffery is listed as questionable as well, and it looks like he could finally make his 2018 debut.
Eagles’ Rodney McLeod Undergoes Surgery
Eagles safety Rodney McLeod recently underwent knee surgery, head coach Doug Pederson told reporters, including Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94 WIP (Twitter link). However, while a recent report indicated Philadelphia would place McLeod on injured reserve, Pederson refused to confirm McLeod is out for the season, indicating simply that the defensive back will be out for “a while,” per Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).
McLeod, 28, suffered the injury in the Eagles’ Week 3 win over the Colts. He’s just the latest starting safety to succumb to injury, joining Da’Norris Searcy of the Panthers, Chris Conte of the Buccaneers, and Ricardo Allen of the Falcons. Eric Reid, the most notable free agent safety at this stage, was just picked up by the Panthers, so the Eagles are looking at a thin group of available players if they choose to go out-of-house for reinforcements, with options such as Mike Mitchell, T.J. Ward, Lardarius Webb, Tyvon Branch, and Jairus Byrd headlining the free agent market.
Veteran Corey Graham will likely step into the Eagles’ starting lineup in place of McLeod, but Philadelphia had been playing a good deal of three-safety sets (Graham has posted 55% playtime this season). As such, the club will need someone to replace Graham’s role in the defense. While Pederson admitted looking for outside help is an option, the Eagles could also search internally, where reserves such as Deiondre’ Hall could be asked to play more snaps. Philadelphia might also consider moving a cornerback like second-year pro Rasul Douglas to safety.
McLeod joined the Eagles on a five-year, $35MM deal prior to the 2016 season. He’s proven himself to be worth the expenditure as he has notched three interceptions in each of the last two years. Through the first three weeks of this season, Pro Football Focus has ranked McLeod as a top-20 safety in the NFL.
Eagles WR Alshon Jeffery Cleared For Contact
Eagles wide receiver Alshon Jeffery has been cleared for contact, an important hurdle in his gaining authorization to take the field on game day, as head coach Doug Pederson told reporters, including Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). However, it’s still unclear as to whether Jeffery will be available when Philadelphia faces Tennessee on Sunday.
Jeffery, who is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, participated in individual work last week but is now cleared for 11-on-11 sessions. The Eagles wanted quarterback Carson Wentz to get a week of full contact drills under his belt before being inserted into the starting lineup, and could conceivably take the same approach with Jeffery.
Jeffery, 28, originally signed a one-year, $9.5MM deal with the Eagles in the spring of 2017, but Philadelphia was impressed enough with his production to extend him on a four-year, $52MM pact in December. While Jeffery post a somewhat disappointing 57 receptions and 789 yards last year, he did manage to get into the end zone nine times (second-most of his career).
The Eagles’ wide receiver corps could desperately use Jeffery, especially after the club placed Mike Wallace on injured reserve last week. Philadelphia’s depth chart is currently comprised of Nelson Agholor, Jordan Matthews, Kamar Aiken, and Shelton Gibson.