Steelers Place Maurkice Pouncey On IR-DTR
The Steelers will be without the fulcrum of their offensive line for the first half of the season, as the club has place center Maurkice Pouncey on injured reserve with a designation to return, according to Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter link).
Pouncey suffered a broken fibula during the Steelers’ third preseason game, and is expected to miss 10 games in total. The first eight of those, by rule, will be spent on IR-DTR — Pittsburgh has a bye during Week 11, so Pouncey could potentially return during Week 12. Losing Pouncey will no doubt be a large to an offense that finished first in DVOA in 2014, as the 26-year-old graded as the league’s sixth-best center last season per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Cody Wallace is expected to step in as the the Steelers’ new starting center, but the club also added some extra depth today, signing Doug Legursky, per Kaboly. Legursky was originally signed just days after Pouncey’s injury, but was cut yesterday morning. Now, he’s back on the squad to act as the No. 2 center.
Steelers Trim Roster To 53 Players
The Steelers have become the NFL’s first team to formally announce its roster moves to get down to 53 players in advance of this afternoon’s deadline. According to a team release, Pittsburgh has made the following moves:
Cut:
- RB Jawon Chisholm
- DL Matt Conrath
- S Jordan Dangerfield
- S Alden Darby
- OL Reese Dismukes
- OL B.J. Finney
- CB Kevin Fogg
- LB L.J. Fort
- LB Shayon Green
- RB Josh Harris
- DL Ethan Hemer
- S Gerod Holliman
- LB Howard Jones
- OL Doug Legursky
- WR Shakim Phillips
- DL Mike Thornton
- CB B.W. Webb
- WR Jarrod West
Waived/injured:
- OL Kelvin Palmer
- OL Mitchell Van Dyk
Those 20 cuts would get the Steelers down to 54 players from 75, since the team also traded punter Brad Wing yesterday. The club has also officially signed cornerback Ross Cockrell, bringing the roster count to 55. The final two moves will be to add running back Le’Veon Bell and wide receiver Martavis Bryant to the reserve/suspended list to start the year.
Giants Acquire Brad Wing From Steelers
11:32am: The Steelers will get a conditional seventh-round pick for 2016 in exchange for Wing, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
10:41am: Shortly after having released veteran punter Steve Weatherford, the Giants have identified his apparent replacement. According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter), the team has worked out a trade with the Steelers, acquiring punter Brad Wing in exchange for a late-round draft pick.
Wing, 24, punted 61 times for the Steelers in his rookie season in 2014, recording 43.7 yards per punt and a net average of 38.6 yards. Pro Football Focus wasn’t overly high on the LSU product’s performance, ranking him 28th out of the league’s 32 regular punters, with a -7.6 grade (subscription required).
Because he was only an exclusive rights free agent in the offseason, Wing is on a minimum salary deal, which works out to $510K for a player with his experience. His contract expires at the end of the 2015 season, but he won’t be able to hit the open market if the Giants want to keep him, since he’s set to be an ERFA again.
Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News first reported that the Giants were discussing a Wing deal with Pittsburgh.
Giants Cut Steve Weatherford
10:35am: According to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News (via Twitter), the Giants are discussing acquiring punter Brad Wing in a deal with the Steelers, though nothing is finalized yet.
10:20am: The Giants appear to be on the lookout for a new punter, as Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports reports (via Twitter) that the club has parted ways with veteran Steve Weatherford. New York also cut Robert Malone earlier this week, so the latest move leaves the team without a punter on its roster.
Weatherford, who turns 33 in December, spent the first five years of his NFL career with a handful of different teams before finding a more permanent home with the Giants in 2011. The Illinois product has been the team’s punter for each of the last four seasons, ranking 25th out of the league’s 32 qualified players at the position in 2015, per Pro Football Focus’ data (subscription required).
Earlier in the week, head coach Tom Coughlin strongly hinted that outside help would likely be brought in to challenge Weatherford for the Giants’ punting job this year.
“Well, there’s a game to go, and it’s going to be a competitive thing,” Coughlin said. “Not necessarily with the guys that are here. That goes for any position. Any position. People have to understand that. You’re not competing just against the guys here, you’re competing against the waiver wire.”
AFC Notes: Bills, P. Thomas, Browns, Ajayi
Addressing a report that suggested he left several members of the Bills‘ front office and coaching staff out of the loop when he decided to cut Fred Jackson, general manager Doug Whaley said on Thursday night that he consulted several others before making the move official, writes Tyler Dunne of The Buffalo News. According to Whaley, head coach Rex Ryan was with him when he informed Jackson of the decision.
“So he was in there with me when we told him together,” Whaley said. “Talked to the running backs coach (Anthony Lynn). So it wasn’t just me waking up one day and deciding, ‘Hey, I want to do this.'”
Whaley added multiple times that he informed Bills ownership of the move, which the original report didn’t dispute. For his part, Jackson suggested Whaley was behind the decision, adding that the GM “wasn’t honest with me the entire time that I’ve known him.”
Here’s more from across the AFC:
- Having turned down a minimum-salary offer from the Texans last month, veteran running back Pierre Thomas is seeking a salary around $1.3MM or $1.4MM, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. It appears the Texans have moved on from Thomas, though perhaps Houston or another club could revisit the free agent back after Week 1.
- According to Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap and ESPN’s Field Yates (Twitter links), the Browns won’t be on the hook for Phil Taylor‘s full $5.477MM salary after all, after releasing the defensive tackle. When he asked for his release, Taylor accepted a three-week injury settlement, which works out to a $966,529 payment.
- As the Dolphins prepare to cut down their roster to 53 players, an injury to Jay Ajayi could complicate the team’s plans, according to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, who says the rookie running back cracked a rib on Thursday. Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post writes that Ajayi is expected to remain on Miami’s active roster.
- Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wonders if the Steelers might part ways with one – or all – of the three players who received restricted free agent tenders from the club earlier this year — Pittsburgh could clear about $3.3MM in cap space by cutting fullback Will Johnson, cornerback Antwon Blake, and safety Robert Golden.
Steelers Not Interested In Phil Taylor
9:39pm: The Steelers are not interested in signing Taylor, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. The team feels that Taylor’s bad knee is in need of repair and will take too long to heal, according to a source.
5:23pm: Nose tackle Phil Taylor became a free agent on Tuesday but he might not be unemployed for long. The former Browns first round pick visited the Steelers on Wednesday, according to a source that spoke with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Meanwhile, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter) hears that upwards of eight teams are expressing interest in the veteran.
Taylor, 27, actually asked to be released by the Browns after it became clear that Danny Shelton would be the club’s starting nose tackle. The Browns obliged and didn’t ask to reduce the money owed to him, even though he’s slated to earn a $5.477MM fully guaranteed salary.
In 2013, Taylor was a starter on defense for Cleveland, but only played 555 defensive snaps, serving primarily as a run stopper. While he wasn’t a full-time player, Taylor’s performance against the run still placed him a solid 26th among 69 qualified defensive tackles, according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required). The 27-year-old played just 133 snaps in 2014 before being sidelined with a knee injury.
Taylor was the Browns’ last remaining player from the Julio Jones trade with the Falcons four years ago. Now, the Browns have nothing to show for that deal.
South Notes: K. Lewis, Jennings, J. Jones, Jags
The Saints made the cornerback position a priority this offseason when they added former Patriot Brandon Browner and CFLer Delvin Breaux as free agents, but the team’s top corner won’t be available to start the regular season. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), Keenan Lewis underwent hip surgery yesterday and will miss about four to six weeks of action.
Landing on the IR with the designation to return doesn’t appear likely for Lewis, since that would sideline him for the entire first half, but the Saints will have to make do without him for at least the next month.
Let’s check in on a few other items from out of the league’s two South divisions….
- Speaking to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Facebook link), free agent cornerback Tim Jennings said a visit with to Tampa Bay “went well,” but he hasn’t made a decision yet on whether he’ll sign with the Buccaneers. “I do want to take this time to see what other opportunities may materialize, if possible,” Jennings said. “Some teams may have some things come up with more roster cuts. Obviously, I also have a strong connection to Tampa too. So we will see.”
- Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com has the full year-by-year breakdown for Julio Jones‘ extension with the Falcons, which includes a $12MM signing bonus and $35.5MM in fully guaranteed money.
- Echoing many of the same points made by Jason La Canfora in a recent CBSSports.com column, Bob Kravitz of WTHR Sports writes that Chuck Pagano‘s future as the Colts head coach is uncertain, given his expiring contract and possible tension with GM Ryan Grigson.
- The Jaguars would “most likely not” let Justin Blackmon out of his NFL contract to pursue a contract in the CFL, writes Alex Marvez of FOX Sports. Of course, Blackmon would also have to be reinstated by the NFL before he could even consider playing in Canada, and that doesn’t appear imminent either.
- A housekeeping detail on the Steelers‘ acquisition of Josh Scobee, per Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter links): The Jaguars converted $925K of Scobee’s base salary into a signing bonus before completing the deal, meaning they pay that amount, leaving the Steelers with just a $2.5MM tab for 2015.
AFC Notes: A. Jones, Bryant, Simms, Jaguars
Colts defensive tackle Arthur Jones is now seeking the opinion of another foot and ankle specialist to determine his course of action and how long he might be sidelined, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (via Facebook). The Colts previously sent Jones to a specialist who informed him that he would not have to go on IR. Now, he’s looking for a second opinion on the matter. Here’s more from the AFC..
- The Steelers have known about wide receiver Martavis Bryant‘s possible four-game suspension for some time and it even impacted their approach in May’s draft, Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. Coach Mike Tomlin said that the news pushed Pittsburgh to use a third-round draft choice on Sammie Coates.
- Bills coach Rex Ryan says the “odds are probably stacked against” quarterback Matt Simms making the 53-man roster but he will “never say never,” Mike Rodak of ESPN.com tweets. Many have speculated that Simms could bump Matt Cassel from the Bills’ roster, but that sounds like something of a longshot at this time.
- Jaguars owner Shad Khan anticipates a long-term extension to the team’s London deal, keeping the partnership going until roughly 2030, Ryan O’Halloran of The Florida Times-Union tweets. O’Halloran (link) expects that announcement to come in October when the Jaguars have their scheduled game in England.
Three Steelers Players Restructure Contracts
The Steelers have restructured the contracts for three of their players, freeing up $6MM in cap space for 2015 with the moves, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Schefter reports that wide receiver Antonio Brown, tight end Heath Miller, and kicker Shaun Suisham all had their deals reworked.
The most interesting move of the three is the Steelers’ decision to rework Brown’s deal. Per Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (via Twitter), it’s not just a simple restructure for the star wideout, who had been seeking a new contract this offseason. Brown won’t get a significant raise or extension, but Pittsburgh has moved up $2MM from his 2016 base salary to 2015, making it part of a new signing bonus.
While specific details on the other restructures haven’t yet been reported, I would expect Miller and Suisham to have a portion of their 2015 base salaries converted to signing bonuses. Miller had been set to earn a $4MM salary this season, while Suisham would’ve earned a $2.595MM salary.
According to Schefter (via Twitter), the Steelers intend to use the majority of their newly-created cap room to offset the large number of injured players they have counting against their cap this year. One of those injured players is Suisham, and today’s moves were likely necessary, in part, to help accommodate the salary of kicker Josh Scobee, acquired by Pittsburgh yesterday from the Jaguars.
Steelers Reduce Roster To 75 Players
The Steelers added one player to their roster today, acquiring Josh Scobee in a trade with the Jaguars, but most of the day’s transactions for the team involve removing players onto reserve lists, or cutting them from the team entirely.
Here are the rest of the moves completed today by Pittsburgh in order to get the roster down to 75 players, according to the club’s transactions log:
Placed on reserve/PUP list:
- T Mike Adams
Placed on injured reserve:
- CB Senquez Golson
- K Garrett Hartley
Waived/injured:
- TE Cameron Clear
- DE Niko Davis
- TE Ray Hamilton
Cut:
- G Miles Dieffenbach
- WR Kenzel Doe
- WR C.J. Goodwin
- RB Braylon Heard
- DE Joe Kruger
- DT Joe Okafor
- OL Collin Rahrig
- CB Jordan Sullen
- T Kevin Whimpey
- S Ian Wild