The 49ers are auditioning defensive end Cedric Reed today, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Reed previously spent time with the Bills and Dolphins but has yet to appear in an NFL game.
Reed was a prominent player for the University of Texas in his final two seasons on campus. Although he had 74 tackles and ten sacks as a junior followed by 69 tackles and 5.5 sacks as a senior, he went undrafted in 2014 and has been looking for steady work ever since. Reed was among the final cuts in Miami last year, so he’s certainly a guy who’s worth consideration for the 90-man roster.
This offseason, Thomas hooked on with the Dolphins for what was to be his third stint with the team. Thomas had a path to making the 53-man roster, but his chances were hurt when the team added Arian Foster late in the offseason. In four seasons with Miami, Thomas ran for 1,480 yards off of 409 attempts, good for just 3.6 yards per carry. In 2014, he saw time in 12 games, rushing for 168 yards off of 44 carries, good for a 3.8 yard average on each try. At one point in time, Thomas was looked at as a significant piece of the Dolphins offense, but he fell out of favor in Miami and has been yo-yoed on and off the roster.
Chekwa at one point was in the mix to win a starting job with Miami. However, for one reason or another, he couldn’t make the final cut. The Dolphins now have rookie Xavien Howard back on the field and free agent addition Chris Culliver, so they have enough bodies at cornerback.
The Dolphins have signed defensive end Cedric Reed, tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The former Texas product spent last season on the Bills’ practice squad.
The Eagles have released offensive lineman Malcolm Bunche and wideout Deon Long, reports Zach Berman of The Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). Bunche, a 2015 undrafted free agent, spent last season on Philly’s practice squad. Long, meanwhile, was added by the Eagles in early August after having been cut by the Rams.
Earlier updates:
The Steelers announced that they’ve placed special teams ace Ross Ventrone on injured reserve after he was injured in the club’s first preseason game. Pittsburgh also waived/injured offensive tackle Brian Mihalik and defensive tackle Roy Philon. To take those roster spots, the Steelers signed offensive tackle Wade Hansen, defensive tackle Khaynin Mosley-Smith, and cornerback Julian Whigham.
The Falcons‘ roster is back to 90 players after the team signed defensive back Ryan White, the club announced today.
The Browns have signed WR Ed Eagan and have waived/injured Rannell Hall. The team also reached an injury settlement with DL Kyle Rose(Twitter link via Nate Ulrich of The Akron Beacon Journal).
The Cardinals have released LB Zack Wagenmann with an injury settlement and have signed DT Iosia Iosia, Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com tweets. Wagenmann, whom Arizona signed as a UDFA out of Montana last season, missed his entire rookie campaign after breaking his foot twice. He set Montana’s career sacks (37.5) and tackles for loss (53) records. The Titans signed Iosia as a UDFA this season, but he was waived in May.
To make for Melvin (listed below), the Dolphins have waived tight end Jake Stoneburner, the club announced. Stoneburner, who was offered a restricted free agent tender this spring, managed five receptions in 11 games for Miami last season.
The Bills have swapped out defensive tackles, signing Casey Walker while releasing Cedric Reed, the team announced. Walker, 26, has eight career games under his belt, having seen action with the Ravens, Patriots, and most recently, the Cowboys.
The Cowboys announced that they’ve agreed to terms with linebackers Darius Eubanks and Henoc Muamba. Dallas didn’t need to create any roster space because they’ve been given exemptions for linebacker Rolando McClain and defensive end Randy Gregory.
The Chiefs have signed defensive back Bryce Cheek, and opened up a roster spot by waiving fellow defensive back Tre Jones, the club announced.
Earlier updates:
Fourth-year cornerback Rashaan Melvin signed with the Dolphins, according to agent Mike McCartney (via Jenna Laine of ESPN.com, on Twitter). Melvin started two games for the Ravens in 2014 and spent 2015 with both the Ravens and Patriots, playing in eight games for the latter.
The Cardinals swapped out wide receivers by signing Franky Okafor and waiving Rico Richardson, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com tweets. Okafor is a rookie UDFA out of Division II Southwestern Oklahoma State. Richardson has played in six games since coming into the league in 2014, all with the Titans.
The Vikings have signed defensive tackle Claudell Louis, reports Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune (via Twitter). Chris Tomasson of TwinCities.com notes that the team considered bringing in rookie punter Taylor Symmank for their 90th roster spot, but the team ultimately opted for undrafted defensive lineman out of Fresno State.
Meanwhile, the Ravens have used their final roster spot to sign punter Michael Palardy, tweets ESPN.com’s Jamison Hensley. The former Tennessee special teamer has also spent time with the Raiders, Rams, and Panthers.
Now that the 2015 regular season is in the books, teams can begin signing players to reserve/futures contracts, adding those players to their 90-man offseason rosters. Generally, these players finished the season on a team’s practice squad, though some were free agents at season’s end.
Here are today’s reserve/futures deals:
Atlanta Falcons signed four players (Twitter link via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com)
While many teams filled up their 10-man practice squads on Sunday, plenty of teams didn’t confirm their moves right away, or kept a few spots open on those units. On top of that, at least one club that signed 10 players to its taxi squad on Sunday has already made several changes, bringing in new players and jettisoning players who didn’t even spend 24 hours on the squad.
We’ll have updates on Monday’s AFC practice squad signings and cuts in this space, with teams listed in alphabetical order. When new moves occur, we’ll bump this post back to the top of the page. Here’s a round-up of today’s moves:
9:58am: In addition to Jackson and the three other players noted below, eight other players have been cut by the Bills, getting the team’s roster count down to 77 players. Here are today’s other cuts in Buffalo, per a team release:
Michael Buchanan, DE
Justin Hamilton, DT
Ellis Lankster, CB
Kenny Ladler, S
Wes Miller, S
D.J. Morrell, G
Cedric Reed, DE
Ricky Seale, RB
9:15am: The Bills’ first series of roster cuts this week includes a bit of a shocker, according to Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News, who reports (via Twitter) that the club has released veteran running back Fred Jackson. While Buffalo had a crowded depth chart at the position, it was expected to be a younger back, rather than Jackson, who became a casualty of the roster crunch.
Jackson, who debuted with the Bills in 2007 and had been with the team since then, is the league’s oldest running back, at age 34. Despite his age, Jackson doesn’t have a ton of mileage on his legs, since he started his career late and has split carries with other backs throughout his tenure with the Bills. Over the course of his eight-year career, Jackson has compiled 5,646 rushing yards and 80 rushing touchdowns on 1,279 carries. He’s also a capable receiver out of the backfield, setting a career high in 2014 with 90 targets.
While Jackson was slowed by a hamstring injury earlier in the training camp this year, he looked good in his preseason debut this weekend, carrying the ball five times for 48 yards. But rather than playing out the final year of his contract with the Bills, Jackson will be looking for a new team. Had he remained on Buffalo’s roster, he would have been due a base salary of $2.35MM, so the team saves a little money by releasing him. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), Jackson wasn’t asked to take a pay cut before he was released.
Following the Bills’ acquisition of LeSean McCoy in March, multiple reports indicated that Jackson would remain on the roster, but it seems the team had a change of heart after assessing its options this summer. With Jackson no longer in the picture, McCoy will be backed up by Karlos Williams, BoobieDixon, and Bryce Brown.
Jackson won’t have to pass through waivers before becoming a free agent, so he’ll have the chance to sign with a new team immediately. He figures to draw some interest from teams in need of a veteran back around the NFL — the Browns come to mind as one logical suitor.
The Bills figure to announce their full list of cuts down to 75 players either today or tomorrow, but some other names have started to trickle out as well. Agent Brett Tessler tweets that edge defender AndrewHudson has been cut by the Bills, while Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets that the team has also waived offensive lineman Terren Jones. Last year’s fourth-round pick, cornerback RossCockrell, has been waived too, tweets Mike Rodak of ESPN.com.
FRIDAY, 12:49pm: The Bills’ deal with Barton fell through, leaving the club with one empty roster spot, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
MONDAY, 3:17pm: The Bills have officially announced their UDFA signings, confirming the 11 players listed below and adding defensive end Erik Williams (Bethune-Cookman) and offensive tackle Jermaine Barton (Illinois State)
SUNDAY, 11:38am: Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News provides a list of the 11 undrafted free agents who have agreed to sign with the Bills (allTwitterlinks). There are no quarterbacks in the group:
Clay Burton, TE, Florida
Tyson Chandler, OT, N.C. State ($7,500 signing bonus, per Aaron Wilson)
