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Albert Huggins

Patriots Waive DT Albert Huggins, Re-Sign K Nick Folk

December 7th, 2019 at 10:30am CST by Ben Levine

Albert Huggins‘ stint with the Patriots lasted less than one week. The Patriots waived the rookie defensive tackle this morning, according to ESPN’s Field Yates (via Twitter). The team will use the roster spot on kicker Nick Folk, who the team officially re-signed.

Huggins joined the Texans as an undrafted free agent out of Clemson. He landed on Houston’s practice squad at the end of the preseason, and he was later signed to the Eagles active roster. The 22-year-old ended up appearing in four games for Philly, compiling three tackles. He was waived by the Eagles last weekend, and the Patriots claimed him on Monday. ESPN’s Mike Reiss suggests that Huggins could be a candidate for New England’s practice squad (Twitter link).

Folk was cut last week after undergoing an appendectomy, but the team’s decision to waive fill-in Kai Forbath indicated that the veteran would be ready for tomorrow’s matchup against the Chiefs. However, the Patriots practiced two straight days without a kicker, leading some to wonder whether the team was actually going to go in a different direction.

We heard last night that the deal had been agreed to. With the Pats, Folk has connected on 7-of-9 field goal tries and all three of his extra point attempts across three games. Two of those misses came last month against the Cowboys, but the Pats still came away with the 13-9 win, with Folk’s 42-yard connection in the fourth quarter helping to seal the deal. In total, the Pats have used four kickers this season: Stephen Gostkowski, Mike Nugent, Folk, and Forbath.

Patriots Waive K Kai Forbath

December 2nd, 2019 at 5:55pm CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots have waived kicker Kai Forbath, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). To fill his spot on the roster, the Pats claimed defensive tackle Albert Huggins off of waivers from the Eagles. 

[RELATED: Rob Gronkowski Ineligible To Return In 2019]

The Patriots signed Forbath last week as a one-game fill-in for Nick Folk. Forbath made his lone field goal attempt from 23 yards out, but missed one of his two extra point tries. It’s believed that Folk will be ready to go for Sunday, but even if he’s not, the Patriots will look for help elsewhere.

The cup of coffee completes yet another NFL stop for Forbath, who has now kicked in games for the Patriots, Redskins, Saints, Vikings, and Jaguars. Meanwhile, he’s the Patriots fourth kicker of the 2019 season, following Stephen Gostkowski, Mike Nugent, and Folk.

With the Pats, Folk has connected on 7-of-9 field goal tries and all three of his extra point attempts across three games. Two of those misses in his last outing against the Cowboys, but the Pats still came away with the 13-9 win, with Folk’s 42-yard connection in the fourth quarter helping to seal the deal.

After Sunday’s loss to the Texans, the 10-2 Patriots will finish out the regular season against the Chiefs, Bengals, Bills, and Dolphins.

Eagles Promote TE Josh Perkins

November 30th, 2019 at 12:48pm CST by Ben Levine

With Zach Ertz ailing, the Eagles have added some tight end reinforcement. SiriusXM’s Adam Caplan reports (via Twitter) that tight end Josh Perkins has been promoted to the active roster. Philly also activated cornerback Cre’von LeBlanc off injured reserve. Zach Berman of The Athletic tweets that the Eagles have waived defensive tackle Albert Huggins.

Perkins, a former undrafted free agent out of Washington, spent the first two seasons of his career with the Falcons. He appeared in nine games for the Eagles last season, hauling in five catches for 67 yards. After getting waived after the 2019 preseason, Perkins caught on with Philly’s practice squad.

The Eagles were one of the few NFL teams rostering two tight ends. If Ertz is ultimately sidelined with a hamstring injury, the team would have needed another healthy body besides Dallas Goedert. While Goedert would presumably get the majority of snaps at tight end in Ertz’s hypothetical absence, there’s still a good chance that Perkins would make his 2019 debut against the Dolphins.

The Eagles added LeBlanc to their roster last November, and he proceeded to collect 24 tackles and one pass defended in eight games (four starts) with Philly. The 25-year-old inked a one-year extension with the team back in September, and he was later placed on injured reserve with a foot injury. He was designated to return earlier this week.

Huggins was signed off the Texans practice squad back in October. The defensive tackle ended up playing in four games for Philadelphia, compiling three tackles.

Texans Trim Roster To 53

August 31st, 2019 at 9:50pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Texans made a flurry of roster moves to get down to 53 players today. Among the notable names that were cut was former Browns cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun. Boddy-Calhoun started at least seven games for Cleveland in each of the past three seasons, but couldn’t crack Houston’s roster after signing a one-year deal back in March.

Receiver Chad Hansen, a fourth-round pick of the Jets in 2017, was also let go. He’s bounced around the league ever since New York cut bait after just one season. Houston also cut ties with reserve pass-rusher Joel Heath. An undrafted rookie in 2016, Heath started 15 games for the Texans across his first two years in the league.

Here are the rest of the players who failed to make the team:

Waived:

WR Floyd Allen

OLB Jesse Aniebonam

CB Derrick Baity Jr.

OLB Davin Bellamy

RB Damarea Crockett

OLB Jamal Davis II

T Christian DiLauro

WR Johnnie Dixon

NT Javi Edwards

S Austin Exford

RB Josh Ferguson

S A.J. Hendy

RB Karan Higdon Jr.

DE Albert Huggins

S Chris Johnson

WR Tyron Johnson

T Rick Leonard

WR Steven Mitchell Jr.

NT Walter Palmore

CB Jermaine Ponder

OLB Gimel President

G Malcolm Pridgeon

G Maurquice Shakir

WR Vyncint Smith

DE Tracy Sprinkle

QB Jordan Ta’amu

WR Jester Weah

Waived-injured:

ILB B.J. Bello

ILB Xavier Woodson

Placed on IR:

QB Joe Webb III

Texans Sign 20 UDFAs

May 10th, 2019 at 1:19pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Texans have signed all but one member of their seven-prospect draft class, and they’ve added to that crop by inking the following undrafted free agents:

Higdon could have a path to a roster spot in Houston. The Texans used a seventh-round pick on Texas A&M running back Cullen Gillaspia, but the only other running backs competing for time behind starter Lamar Miller are D’Onta Foreman (who saw only seven carries in 2018 while recovering from a torn Achilles), Josh Ferguson, and Buddy Howell.

The Texans gave significant guarantees to several of their UDFAs, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Higdon received a $45 base salary and a $5K signing bonus, Crockett got a $35K base salary guarantee with a $10K signing bonus, and Pridgeon received a $35K base salary with an $8K signing bonus.

Huggins received a $35K base salary guarantee with a $5K signing bonus, Palmore got a $30K base salary guarantee with a $10K signing bonus and Davis will collect a $30K base salary guarantee with a $7K signing bonus.

Chris Johnson received a $25K base salary guarantee and a $10K signing bonus, Tyron Johnson got a $30K base salary guarantee and a $5K signing bonus, and Dixon will collect a $40K base salary guarantee and a $10K signing bonus.