Saints Announce Roster Moves
The Saints have made the following transactions as they move their roster to 53 players:
Waived:
- QB J.T. Barrett IV
- LB Jayrone Elliott
- LB KeShun Freeman
- TE Garrett Griffin
- DT Woodrow Hamilton
- DB Natrell Jamerson
- DE Alex Jenkins
- LB Colton Jumper
- LB Hau’oli Kikaha
- WR Keith Kirkwood
- T Rick Leonard
- WR Tanner McEvo
- DL Henry Mondeaux
- DB Kamrin Moore
- DE Al-Quadin Muhammad
- DB Linden Stephens
- OL Landon Turner
- RB Jonathan Williams
- OL Nate Wozniak
- TE Deon Yelder.
Waived/injured:
Released:
- G Don Barclay
- DT Jay Bromley
- WR Michael Floyd
- DE George Johnson
- G Josh LeRibeus
- DB Robert Nelson Jr.
- T Michael Ola
- TE John Phillips
- QB Tom Savage
- WR Brandon Tate
- G Andrew Tiller
- DB Marcus J. Williams
Placed on injured reserve:
- TE Michael Hoomanawanui
- RB Shane Vereen
Placed on suspended list:
- RB Mark Ingram
Saints Cut WR Michael Floyd, Others
Michael Floyd and Brandon Tate both signed with the Saints late in the offseason. Each received notice of a Friday release.
The Saints cut Floyd, along with offensive linemen Don Barclay and Andrew Tiller and former second-round linebacker Hau’oli Kikaha (all Twitter links via Nick Underhill of The Advocate). They are also parting ways with edge defender Jayrone Elliott, per Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com (on Twitter).
Floyd has not been able to recapture his Cardinals form. After three straight 800-plus-yard receiving seasons, he’s combined for barely 100 away from Arizona. He caught 10 passes for 78 yards with the 2017 Vikings.
Tiller started 14 games for the 49ers from 2016-17, and Barclay joined him in signing with the Saints this offseason. Both players came into the league in 2012, Barclay being a former Packers starter.
The longest-tenured Saints linebacker going into Friday, Kikaha came off the 2015 draft board at No. 44 but saw the team revamp its linebacker room via free agency over the past few years. They signed Demario Davis this offseason. The Saints, who deployed Kikaha as an 11-game starter in 2015, have now parted ways with two of their top three 2015 picks — Stephone Anthony and Kikaha. New Orleans picked up 2015 first-rounder Andrus Peat‘s fifth-year option earlier this year.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/4/18
Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2018 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:
Baltimore Ravens
- DB Bennett Jackson
Green Bay Packers
- LB Ahmad Thomas
Kansas City Chiefs
- DT Josh Augusta
- CB Sheldon Price
Los Angeles Chargers
- LS Anthony Kulwa
Miami Dolphins
New Orleans Saints
NFL Workout Updates: 10/31/17
Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:
Baltimore Ravens
- T Nick Callender; G Andrew Tiller (link)
Carolina Panthers
- QB Tyler Ferguson, TE Jerome Cunningham (link)
Houston Texans
- WR DeAndrew White; DTs Stefan Charles, Brandon Thompson; CBs Cody Riggs, Sojourn Shelton (Twitter links)
Indianapolis Colts
- DE Joby Saint Fleur; LBs Vontarrius Dora, Max Valles (link)
New England Patriots
- TE Gabe Holmes; LB Jayrone Elliott (link via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com)
New York Giants
- DE Owa Odighizuwa (link via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- QB Joel Stave; WR Devin Lucien; TE Beau Sandland; DE Patrick Gamble; CBs Marcus Burley, Jarnor Jones (link)
Tennessee Titans
- WR Mekale McKay (link)
Washington Redskins
- DL Jaye Howard, Cam Thomas (link via Adam Caplan of SiriusXM)
NFL Workout Updates: 9/13/17
Today’s workout updates, with nearly all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account:
Buffalo Bills
- QB Joel Stave; WRs Chris Brown, Marlon Brown; G Oni Omoile; T Brad Seaton; CB Makinton Dorleant (Twitter links)
Chicago Bears
- DE Praise Martin-Oguike; LBs Akeem Ayers, Chris Casher, Vontarrius Dora, Jonathan Freeny; LS Andrew East (Twitter links)
Green Bay Packers
- WR Jesse Kroll; LBs Donnie Baggs, Brooks Ellis, Christian Kuntz (Twitter links)
Indianapolis Colts
- WRs K.J. Brent, Devin Lucien, KeVonn Mabon; OTs Andreas Knappe, Javarius Leamon, Jah Reid, Brad Seaton; DEs Logan Ingle, Branden Jackson (all Twitter links)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- DT Darius Kilgo (link)
Kansas City Chiefs
- CBs Alex Carter, Josh Thornton (link)
New England Patriots
- QB Mitch Leidner; WRs Daniel Braverman, Tevaun Smith, Jahad Thomas, Bryan Walters; LS Taybor Pepper; P Austin Rehkow (link here)
New Orleans Saints
- WRs Corey Brown, Josh Huff, Seantavius Jones, Anthony Nash, Myles White; Gs Dallas Thomas, Andrew Tiller, Earl Watford, Cody Wichmann; LBs Akeem Ayers, Sio Moore; OT Eric Winston; CB Jumal Rolle; S Jordan Moore (all Twitter links here)
New York Jets
- RB Lorenzo Taliaferro; WRs Jaydon Mickens, Anthony Nash, Michael Rector; TE Scott Orndoff (link)
Philadelphia Eagles
- LBs Carl Bradford, Tre’von Johnson, Joseph Jones, Antwione Williams; Ks Marshall Koehn, Josh Lambo, Mike Nugent (Twitter links)
Tennessee Titans
- G Kaleb Johnson (link)
Washington Redskins
- RBs Jonathan Grimes, Daryl Richardson; G Greg Pyke; (link)
Chiefs Cut Players To Reach 53-Man Limit
The Chiefs are all legal eagle. Here’s how they got down to a 53-man roster:
Released:
- Ricky Ali’ifua, DL
- De’Vante Bausby, CB
- Orson Charles, TE
- Joseph Cheek, OL
- Gehrig Dieter, WR
- Gavin Escobar, TE
- Sam Ficken, K
- Jacoby Glenn, CB
- Trevon Hartfield, CB
- Donald Hawkins, T
- Josh James, T
- Seantavius Jones, WR
- Tevin Jones, WR
- Marcus Kemp, WR
- Damien Mama, G
- Justin March-Lillard, LB
- Leon McQuay, S
- Earl Okine, LB
- Mike Person, OL
- Devine Redding, RB
- Marcus Rush, LB
- Larry Scott, CB
- C.J. Spiller, RB (story)
- Joel Stave, QB
- Tony Stevens, WR
- Maurice Swain, DT
- Steven Terrell, S
- Cam Thomas, DT
- Andrew Tiller, G
- Robert Wheelwright, WR
PUP List:
- Tamba Hali, LB
- Dadi Nicolas, LB
Reserve/Injured:
- Ashton Lampkin, CB
- Spencer Ware, RB (story)
Chiefs To Cut OL Andrew Tiller
The Chiefs will waive offensive lineman Andrew Tiller, according to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link).
The writing was on the wall for Tiller, who signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs this summer, after Kansas City acquired former first-round offensive lineman Cameron Erving from the Browns this week. Erving and Parker Ehringer figure to be the top backups to starting guards Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Zach Fulton.
Tiller, 28, has started 14 games over the past two seasons, both of which he spent in San Francisco. He graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 43 ranked guard last season, earning nearly even marks for pass blocking and run blocking.
Chiefs Sign OL Andrew Tiller
One of the best remaining free agent offensive linemen is now off the board. The Chiefs announced that they have signed guard Andrew Tiller.
Tiller visited the Chiefs in late March and left without a deal, but the two sides circled back to each other roughly six weeks later. The Syracuse product started 14 games over the last two seasons for San Francisco and it’s a bit surprising that he had to wait until May to sign somewhere.
The Chiefs now have four true guards on the roster in Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Zach Fulton, Parker Ehinger, and Tiller. In addition to them, they have a pair of guard/tackles in Jah Reid and Mike Person. The arrival of Tiller could displace Person, particularly if Tiller’s deal comes with a significant guarantee. Then again, since Tiller has signed so late in the offseason, he might not have much of a guarantee on his deal.
Tiller graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 43 ranked guard last season. He had nearly even marks for pass blocking and run blocking, according to PFF’s metrics.
Chiefs Hosting G Andrew Tiller On Visit
49ers free agent guard Andrew Tiller is visiting the Chiefs today, a league source tells Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee (on Twitter). Tiller has started 14 games over the last two seasons for San Francisco.
The Chiefs presently have three true guards on the roster in Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Zach Fulton, and Parker Ehinger. After that, they have a pair of guard/tackles in Jah Reid and Mike Person. If Tiller signs with KC, he’ll likely get a partial guarantee on his deal and that could displace one of the team’s reserve offensive linemen.
We haven’t heard Tiller’s name come up much this month and this is his first reported free agent visit. At this stage of free agency, we have Tiller ranked as one of the five best free agent interior offensive linemen remaining on the board. Only Jahri Evans, Nick Mangold, Tim Lelito, and John Sullivan are ahead of him on the list.
The Niners’ level of interest in keeping Tiller isn’t immediately clear. The team currently has nine offensive linemen under contract, including newly-acquired center Jeremy Zuttah.
Top 2017 Free Agents By Position 3.0: Offense
The initial wave of NFL free agency is now complete, and while many of the league’s top available players are now off the board, there are still plenty of quality options still on the open market.
Listed below are our rankings for the top 15 free agents at each offensive position. These rankings aren’t necessarily determined by the value of the contracts – or the amount of guaranteed money – that each player is expected to land in free agency. These are simply the players we like the most at each position, with both short- and long-term value taken into account.
Restricted and exclusive-rights free agents, as well as players who received the franchise tag, aren’t listed here, since the roadblocks in place to hinder another team from actually acquiring most of those players prevent them from being true free agents.
We’ll almost certainly be higher or lower on some free agents than you are, so feel free to weigh in below in our comments section to let us know which players we’ve got wrong.
Here’s our breakdown of the current top 15 free agents by offensive position for 2017:
Quarterback:
Jay CutlerChase DanielRyan Fitzpatrick- Colin Kaepernick
Josh McCown- Robert Griffin III
Case KeenumMatt McGloinMark Sanchez- Christian Ponder
Blaine GabbertRyan Nassib- Shaun Hill
Kellen MooreAustin Davis
Tony Romo is not a free agent…at least not yet. If the Cowboys do not find a suitable trade and release him, you’ll find him at the top of this list.
Laugh if you must, but Cutler is far and away the best quarterback available on the open market. While most of this year’s QB-needy teams are done with their free agent shopping, the Jets are still searching for their 2017 starter and no one would make more sense for them than Cutler. He’s not all that far removed from playing solid football and he’s a logical transitional option for the Jets until they can isolate a better, younger option for 2018. 
Kaepernick’s reps wisely told the press that he will be standing for the National Anthem this year. Still, Kaepernick is an outspoken guy who wants to use his platform to discuss hot button issues, so there’s no guarantee that the media circus around him will cease. Jets owner Woody Johnson loves seeing his team on the back pages of the New York tabloids, but even he has to have more sense than to entertain Kaepernick. McCown, who has been contact with the team, would be an okay choice if they can’t get something done with Cutler. Chase Daniel could be an option too, but there isn’t much game film on him.
Needless to say, the No. 3 ranked player on this list isn’t an option in New York.
Running back:
Adrian PetersonLeGarrette BlountJamaal Charles- Rashad Jennings
Tim Hightower- DeAngelo Williams
- Chris Johnson
Christine MichaelBenny Cunningham- Bobby Rainey
Brandon Bolden- Denard Robinson
- James Starks
Matt AsiataKenjon Barner
Honorable mention: DuJuan Harris, Antonio Andrews, Khiry Robinson
The Vikings have moved on and Peterson will not be back in Minnesota. Where he goes from here is anyone’s guess. When Peterson’s option was declined by the Vikings earlier this month, there were tons of stories (likely sourced by Peterson’s camp) about interest from a litany of contenders. Since then, each team – through anonymous sources – has denied being in the mix for the veteran. It would be easy to doubt Peterson at this juncture, but he has come back from serious injuries multiple times in his career and he is only one year removed from his stellar 2015 campaign. He gets the top spot over the bruising Blount as well as Charles, who hasn’t been healthy in a long while.
Jennings was brought to New York with the idea that he would be the team’s workhorse. Unfortunately, two of his three seasons with the G-Men were marred by injury. Jennings is currently putting his agility to good use on Dancing With The Stars and it remains to be seen how committed he is to football. After that, we have a trio of vets (Hightower, Williams, CJ2K) who could still advance the ball in limited spurts.
In case you’re wondering – Mike Gillislee is not listed here because he is a restricted free agent.