Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC East
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC East teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Bills, Dolphins, Patriots, and Jets are noted below.
Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s AFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:
Buffalo Bills
- Claimed:
- LB Deon Lacy
- TE Khari Lee
- T Conor McDermott
- Cut:
- WR Corey Brown (story)
- LB Gerald Hodges (story)
- RB Jonathan Williams (story)
- Cut from IR:
- LB Sam Barrington (story)
- Signed to practice squad:
- WR Daikiel Shorts
- WR Brandon Reilly
- OL Jordan Mudge
- DE Ian Seau
- DL Marquavius Lewis
- CB Marcus Sayles
- S B.T .Sanders
Miami Dolphins
- Claimed:
- LB Justin March-Lillard
- K Cody Parkey (story)
- Cut:
- Signed to practice squad:
- QB Brandon Doughty
- TE Thomas Duarte
- T Sean Hickey
- WR Malcolm Lewis
- CB Jordan Lucas
- DE Cameron Malveaux
- WR Drew Morgan
- RB De’Veon Smith
New England Patriots
- Signed to practice squad:
- LB Trevor Bates
- OL James Ferentz
- RB D.J. Foster
- DL Geneo Grissom
- WR Cody Hollister
- DB David Jones
- OL Ted Karras
- DL Darius Kilgo
- DB Damarius Travis
New York Jets
- Claimed:
- WR Kalif Raymond
- LB Edmond Robinson
- WR Damore’ea Stringfellow
- TE Will Tye (story)
- Cut:
- LB Freddie Bishop
- LB Bruce Carter
- RB Marcus Murphy,
- TE Jason Vander Laan
- Signed to practice squad:
- LB Frank Beltre
- OL Ben Braden
- CB Xavier Coleman
- DL Deon Simon
Dolphins Release Brandon Harris, Waive 10 Others
The Dolphins have pared their roster down to 78 players today, moving closer to the first-cut deadline of 75. They waived 10 players (Twitter link) and released cornerback Brandon Harris, who has sufficient service time to avoid waivers.
- LB Akil Blount
- C/G Ruben Carter
- WR A.J. Cruz
- LS Ryan DiSalvo
- WR Matt Hazel
- TE Gabe Hughes
- K Marshall Koehn
- CB Al Louis-Jean
- G Vinston Painter
- WR Brandon Shippen
A former Texans second-round pick out of the University of Miami in 2011, Harris has played in 42 games but has yet to start one. His service time runs from 2011-14, with the ex-Hurricane seeing action for three years in Houston and one, 2014, in Tennessee. A torn ACL sustained last summer while employed by the Titans stalled Harris’ career, one that saw him land with the Dolphins late last month.
Miami’s Chris Culliver signing pushed Harris further on the bubble, and he’ll now attempt to find a new home.
Hazel landed with the Dolphins as a sixth-rounder in 2014 and played in five games last season, starting one. This leaves seven wideouts still on the Fins’ roster, with Griff Whalen and UDFA Rashawn Scott potentially battling for a roster spot.
DiSalvo lost the long-snapping battle to longtime Dolphin John Denney, and Koehn couldn’t beat out Andrew Franks for the kicker job.
Painter was a Broncos sixth-rounder in 2013 who’s played in three games — all with the Browns in 2014.
Dolphins Rumors: Draft, CBs, Jason Jones
Landing a cornerback – and perhaps more than one – is the Dolphins’ top priority in this year’s draft, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a lock to take one with the No. 13 pick, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
According to Jackson, if Miami opts for the best player available in the first round, and that player is a non-cornerback, there’s a belief the team could still land a quality CB at No. 42 and/or No. 73. Jackson mentions Miami’s Artie Burns, Baylor’s Xavien Howard, and Virginia Tech’s Kendall Fuller as a few potential targets.
Here’s more on the Dolphins from Jackson, including several notes on their possible draft plans:
- If running back Ezekiel Elliott or linebacker Myles Jack slip to No. 13, the Dolphins would have interest in both players. The team recently sent a contingent to Los Angeles for a private workout with UCLA’s Jack.
- Some Dolphins scouting and front office people are resistant to the idea of drafting Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III if he’s on the board at No. 13, since the team would prefer a big, physical cornerback.
- Miami is intrigued by Houston’s William Jackson III and Ohio State’s Eli Apple, but they may not be great value at No. 13, so trading down might be a consideration. Dolphins VP Mike Tannenbaum said today that there have been preliminary conversations about the No. 13 pick, tweets James Walker of ESPN.com.
- The Dolphins have discussed the possibility of taking one of the top offensive tackles in the first round and moving him to guard – at least temporarily – but that seems to be an unlikely outcome.
- On special teams, the Dolphins are keeping an eye out for help in the return game and potential competition for kicker Andrew Franks. Special teams coach Darren Rizzi has privately worked out multiple kicker prospects, including Nick Rose of Texas and Daniel Sobolewski of Albright.
- The Dolphins continue to have conversations with free agent defensive end Jason Jones, and there’s mutual interest between the two sides in working something out.
Dolphins Pare Roster Down To 53
The Dolphins removed 20 players from their roster in order to reach the mandated 53-man limit, with the most notable of the team’s releases coming at kicker.
Caleb Sturgis will not begin a third season as the Dolphins’ kicker, as Andrew Franks won competition for the spot, according to the team’s website.
In going with rookie undrafted free agent Franks over Sturgis, a third-year veteran, it marks the first time in eight years Miami will deploy two new specialists. Rookie Matt Darr supplanted eight-year punter Brandon Fields, a 2013 Pro Bowler, earlier this week.
Sturgis missed eight kicks in each of his two campaigns.
Miami’s additional cuts are as follows:
- Damarr Aultman, WR
- McLeod Bethel-Thompson, QB
- Sam Brenner, C
- Deandre Coleman, DT
- James Davidson, LB
- Emmanuel Dieke, DE
- Mike Gillislee, RB
- Cobi Hamilton, WR
- Donald Hawkins, T
- Mike Hull, LB
- Anthony Johnson, DT
- Christion Jones, WR (Waived/injured)
- Don Jones, S
- Mike Liedtke, G/T
- Jeff Luc, LB
- Jordan Tripp, LB
- Cedric Thompson, S
- Jake Stoneburner, TE
- Tim Semisch, TE
- Aundrey Walker, T
Dolphins Sign 16 Undrafted Free Agents
3:37pm: The Dolphins have added a couple more UDFAs to their roster, tweeting word of Marshall linebacker Neville Hewitt‘s signing, and listing former Maine wideout Damarr Aultman on their minicamp roster. Aultman got a $1.5K signing bonus, per Aaron Wilson (Twitter link).
10:09am: The Dolphins are the latest team to officially confirm their undrafted free agent signings, announcing (via Twitter) the 14 players they’ve added to their roster. Here are the team’s newest additions:
- Mickey Baucus, OL, Arizona
- Matt Darr, P, Tennessee
- Ray Drew, DE, Georgia
- Andrew Franks, K, RPI
- Mike Hull, LB, Penn State
- Christion Jones, WR, Alabama
- Nigel King, WR, Kansas
- Mike Liedtke, OL, Illinois State
- Jeff Luc, LB, Cincinnati
- Ellis McCarthy, DE, UCLA
- Kendall Montgomery, DE, Bowling Green
- Dionte Savage, OL, Oklahoma
- Zach Vigil, LB, Utah State
- Aundrey Walker, OL, USC