Patriots Notes: Lewis, Jackson, Bennett, Butler
The Patriots have made team-friendly extension offers to a number of their pending free agents — including Martellus Bennett, Malcolm Butler, Jamie Collins, Dont’a Hightower, and Logan Ryan — but so far, no player has been interested in putting pen to paper, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. Given that the salary cap continues to rise, each of these impending free agents figures to cash in the open market, and therefore have little incentive to agree to any offer New England puts on the table.
Here’s more on the Patriots, who are now 5-1 after beating the Bengals today:
- After opening the year on the physically unable to perform list, running back Dion Lewis is eligible to begin practicing this week. There’s a chance that happens, but it also wouldn’t be surprising for the Patriots to hold Lewis out of game action until after the club’s November bye, writes Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. Lewis has made “positive progress” as he recovers from ACL surgery, per Reiss, but New England will exude caution nonetheless.
- Offensive lineman Tre’ Jackson also started the season on the PUP list, but he’s closer to returning than is Lewis, reports Reiss. Mason is expected to practice this week, and should be able to play again as soon very soon. In fact, New England’s release of guard Jonathan Cooper may have precipitated by Mason’s health.
- The Patriots recently gave $52,700 raises to four practice squad players — running back Bishop Sankey, defensive end Geneo Grissom, guard Chris Barker, and defensive tackle Anthony Johnson. For what it’s worth, Grissom and Johnson were then promoted to active roster on Saturday.
Patriots Place Jonathan Freeny On IR
A starter in four of the Patriots’ five games thus far this season, Jonathan Freeny may not return to the field in 2016. The Patriots placed the fifth-year outside linebacker on IR, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports.
Afflicted with a shoulder injury, Freeny played in all five of the Pats’ games and was the recipient of a two-year, $4.1MM extension in August. He will now be out until at least December. New England could activate Freeny after eight weeks, and the second-year starter could return to practice after six, but can only select one player from its IR list to return to action.
The Pats also placed recently added tight end Greg Scruggs on IR. To replace the duo on the 53-man roster, the Patriots signed defensive tackle Anthony Johnson and defensive end Geneo Grissom from their practice squad, Florio reports.
Freeny recorded 10 tackles and forced a fumble this season. He started seven games in 2015 after playing the previous three years with the Dolphins.
Scruggs, who has a knee injury, played in three games with the Bears this season but had yet to see action for his current team. He’s in his first season as a tight end after previously serving as a defensive lineman. However, with Freeny now on IR, Scruggs’ chances of playing again this season are remote.
Practice Squad Updates: 9/28/16
Today’s practice squad moves:
Chicago Bears
- Signed: LB Jonathan Anderson (Twitter link via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune)
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: OT Clay DeBord
- Cut: DE Chris McCain
Detroit Lions
- Signed: LB Zaviar Gooden (Twitter link via Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: C Daniel Munyer
- Cut: WR Seantavius Jones (via Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star)
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: LB Darnell Sankey (via Scott Bair of CSNCalifornia.com)
New England Patriots
- Signed: DT Anthony Johnson (Twitter link via Doug Kyed of NESN)
- Cut: OT Ian Silberman (Twitter link via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com)
New York Giants
- Signed: OT Jon Halapio (Twitter link via James Kratch of NJ.com)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Jonathan Krause (Twitter link via Roy Cummings of WFLA)
Patriots To Cut DT Anthony Johnson
The Patriots will cut defensive tackle Anthony Johnson, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Given that he’s not a vested veteran, Johnson will need to pass through waives before entering free agency.
[RELATED: New England Patriots Depth Chart]
New England could use its newly-created roster spot in a variety of ways, including to sign a free agent quarterback if needed. T.J. Yates is reportedly the club’s “free agent of choice,” but the Patriots haven’t made an attempt to add him as of yet, which indicates a certain level of optimism regarding Jimmy Garoppolo and/or Jacoby Brissett‘s health. New England is more interested in “bulking up” its defensive line than adding another QB right now, tweets Dianna Russini of ESPN.com, so the team could simply swap out Johnson for another DL.
Johnson, 23, signed with the Patriots in May, and despite his limited track record, lasted through final cuts to make the club’s 53-man roster. But he hasn’t contributed much in 2016, managing only 20 snaps on defense. Johnson’s only other NFL experience came with the Vikings, for whom he played seven games in 2014.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Lions Acquire Jon Bostic From Patriots
The Lions have acquired linebacker Jon Bostic from the Patriots, as Field Yates of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). New England will receive a conditional 2017 seventh-round draft pick in return. 
Bostic, a former second-round pick, is no stranger to being traded after a September swap shipped him from the Bears to the Pats. In 2015, he appeared in eleven games (one start) for New England, recording two tackles. Not long ago, however, Bostic was looked at as a promising youngster. As a rookie with the Bears, Bostic played in all 16 games with nine starts on the year. In total, he notched 57 tackles, 2.0 sacks, and an interception in 2013. He followed that up in 2014 with a career high of 83 tackles. Now, he’ll try and get back to his old form with Detroit in 2016.
The swap marks the first deal between Lions GM Bob Quinn and his former team. Given the relationship there and Quinn’s knowledge of Pats player, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more deals go down between the two clubs in the future.
The Pats have also signed defensive lineman Anthony Johnson, as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor NFL Transactions: 5/2/16
Today’s minor moves:
- The Patriots released cornerback Rashaan Melvin and linebacker James Vaughters, according to Christopher Price of WEEI (on Twitter).
- The Seahawks have signed quarterback Jake Heaps, as ESPN.com’s Sheil Kapadia writes. The signing of the 25-year-old now gives Seattle three QBs on the roster.
- The Browns released linebacker Scott Solomon, as Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. Solomon was a restricted free agent this offseason, one that Cleveland re-signed less than a month ago. Solomon was slated to earn $1.671MM in 2016.
- The Lions announced the signing of linebacker Zaviar Gooden. Gooden joins the Lions after spending the 2013-14 seasons with Tennessee, where he appeared in 24 games (three starts).
- The Eagles (on Twitter) announced the release of safety Jerome Couplin. Ditto for wide receiver Freddie Martino (link).
- Washington announced that defensive linemen Christo Bilukidi, Anthony Johnson, and Kamal Johnson, linebackers Desmond Bishop and Derrick Mathews, wide receiver LaRon Byrd, and cornerback Al Louis-Jean have all been released.
- The Broncos cut safety Ryan Murphy and punter Will Johnson, according to Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Murphy has the unfortunate distinction of having been sent home from the Super Bowl.
- The Bears cut defensive tackle D’Anthony Smith, Wilson tweets.
- The Cardinals cut cornerback Kevin White and center Valerian Ume-Ezeoke, Wilson tweets.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/9/15
Today’s practice squad moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: CB Sammy Seamster (Twitter link via Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News)
- Cut: WR Titus Davis
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: OL Garth Gerhart (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle)
Washington
- Signed: WR LaRon Byrd, LB Carlos Fields & DL Anthony Johnson (via team on Twitter)
- Cut: WR Corey Washington
Workout Notes: Titans, Brown, Johnson, Dixon
Just over seven months after he announced his retirement from the NFL, cornerback Cortland Finnegan had a workout today with the Patriots. Finnegan, 31, was one of the league’s worst cornerbacks in 2013, according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. PFF ranked Finnegan 109th out of 110 qualified corners, with a grade of -19.7 in just seven games. As such, it came as a bit of a surprise when Miami inked the former Ram to a two-year, $11MM deal in 2014. He might not be worthy of that kind of pay, but he could make for an intriguing depth option for the Pats or another team.
Here’s a rundown of today’s other workouts from around the NFL, with all links going to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post on Twitter, unless noted otherwise..
- The Titans worked out running backs Bryce Brown, Storm Johnson, George Arkinson and quarterback Michael German (link).
- Safety Ahmad Dixon worked out for the Bengals today, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets.
- The Falcons worked out linebackers Emmanuel Acho, Carlos Fields, Khaseem Greene, and Ronald Powell (link).
- The Panthers tried out Nate Askew, Chykie Brown, Bradley Fletcher, Connor Hamlett, Douglas McNeil, Bear Pascoe, and cornerback Cassius Vaughn (Twitter links).
- The Bears worked out defensive backs Ri’Shard Anderson, Robert McClain, Brandian Ross, and Pierre Warren (link).
- The Broncos worked out Harold Spears, Paul Browning, DaVaris Daniels, Sage Harold, John Lowdermilk, Andrew McDonald, and Ryan Murphy (Twitter links).
- The Lions worked out Desmond Martin and Corey Washington (link).
- The Colts worked out Carrington Byndom and Jeromy Miles (link).
- The Dolphins worked out defensive backs Garry Peters and Kevin White (link).
- The Jaguars worked out wide receivers Jordan Leslie, Uzoma Nwachukwu, and L’Damian Washington (link).
- The Vikings worked out defensive lineman Chigbo Anunoby (link).
- The Patriots worked out center Jared Smith (link).
- The Jets worked out Greg Scruggs and Marcus Lucas (link).
- The Seahawks worked out Darius Eubanks, Danny Gorrer, Damaris Johnson, Nick Kasa, Horace Miller, Dontay Moch, Tyler Slavin, Matthew Wells (link). They also hosted Harold Spears and Dax Swanson (link).
- Washington worked out Tommy Streeter, Nick Harwell, Anthony Johnson, Toby Johnson, Ronald Powell, Kelcy Quarles, and Julius Warmsley (link).
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
Minor Moves: Friday
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
- The Dolphins have placed defensive tackle Anthony Johnson on injured reserve, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). Johnson, an undrafted rookie out of LSU, has seen just 84 snaps this season.
- In advance of Sunday’s game against the Colts, the Texans have placed defensive end Tim Jamison, who’s been dealing with a knee injury, on injured reserve, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston. To fill its 53-man roster, Houston promoted fellow DE Keith Browner from its practice squad.