Denver Kirkland

NFL Workout Updates: 10/30/19

Today’s workout updates, all courtesy of Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle:

Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

  • P Austin Barnard

New England Patriots

Oakland Raiders

Raiders Get Down To 53 Players

The Raiders have made their slew of cuts. They placed defensive tackle Justin Ellis on injured reserve, meaning he’ll miss the entire season. After starting 14 games in 2017, Oakland signed Ellis to a three-year, $15MM extension. Injuries limited him to just six games last season, so he’ll have barely played through the first two years of that extension.

Former Rams defensive lineman Ethan Westbrooks also got the boot. He started nine games for Los Angeles in 2017 and racked up four sacks. Last year he had a smaller role, although he did appear in all 16 games for the Rams. ‘Hard Knocks’ star Keelan Doss unfortunately failed to make the roster. He’s an undrafted rookie receiver from UC Davis. Additionally Keith Smith, who served as the team’s fullback last season, was released.

Waived:

WR Marcell Ateman
DE Quinton Bell
RB James Butler
LB Jason Cabinda
LB Te’von Coney
G Lester Cotton Sr.
WR Keelan Doss
LB Koa Farmer
WR Rico Gafford
WR Keon Hatcher
G/T Denver Kirkland
CB Dylan Mabin
T Justin Murray
CB Nick Nelson
WR De’Mornay Pierson-El
T Tyler Roemer
DT Anthony Rush

Released:

FB Keith Smith
DE Ethan Westbrooks
LB Kyle Wilber

Waived/injured:

TE Paul Butler

Placed on season-ending injured reserve:

DT Justin Ellis

Raiders To Explore Guard Trade Market

The Raiders will be without their longest-tenured offensive lineman for around two months. They appear set to look at outside options in the interim.

Gabe Jackson‘s knee injury will mean Oakland goes into this season without either of the guard starters it deployed primarily for the past three seasons, with the team having already traded Kelechi Osemele to New York in March. Already set to be without Richie Incognito for two weeks because of a suspension, the Raiders are expected to explore the guard trade market, Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets.

Incognito arrived shortly after the draft, with Jon Gruden advocating for another guard to replace Osemele instead of the team’s in-house options. At right guard presently, depth signing Jordan Devey will receive the first shot at replacing Jackson, Gruden said (via Gehlken, on Twitter). Devey has started just four games over the past three seasons, each coming as a member of the Chiefs.

Fourth-year UDFA Denver Kirkland is also in that mix; Denzelle Good remains on the team’s active/PUP list. Jackson hurt his knee during practice this week. The Raiders have more than $18MM in cap space, but with Jackson and Incognito potentially set to debut together by October, it would be interesting to see them give up too much to acquire a stopgap guard.

Still attached to the $10MM-AAV deal he signed in 2017, Jackson has started 72 games for the Raiders since arriving as a 2014 third-round pick. He finished last season on IR and would be a candidate for an IR-return player to start this season, but that would only be the case if the Raiders believed his timetable would involve a return closer to November rather than October.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/11/18

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Los Angeles Rams

Oakland Raiders

San Francisco 49ers

  • Signed off Cowboys’ practice squad: S Tyree Robinson

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Promoted from practice squad: TE Tanner Hudson
  • Placed on IR: LB Kevin Minter

Washington Redskins

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/6/18

Today’s practice squad updates:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

  • Signed: OL Mason Gentry, WR Daniel Williams

Indianapolis Colts

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Raiders Activate DT Justin Ellis

Justin Ellis played in just one game this season before being placed on IR. He will return, however, for the final games of Jon Gruden‘s first year back.

The Raiders activated Ellis from IR on Saturday, and the fifth-year defensive tackle will be in line to play Sunday against the Chiefs. Oakland waived offensive lineman Denver Kirkland to clear a roster spot.

Re-signed this offseason, Ellis is one of the few Reggie McKenzie draft picks still around in Oakland. The 2014 fourth-round selection has started for most of his career, producing his best season in 2017 — 48 tackles, a half-sack. He’s signed through the 2020 season.

Following Ellis’ IR move, Oakland signed both Johnathan Hankins and Clinton McDonald. Both have served as role players at a defensive tackle spot now housing new Gruden draftees P.J. Hall and Maurice Hurst.

Kirkland played in six games for the Raiders in 2016 and ’18. He served as an extra offensive lineman in power sets during Oakland’s 12-4 2016 campaign but has only made one regular-season appearance since.

Raiders Waive Obi Melifonwu From IR

Obi Melifonwu‘s tenure with the Raiders has come to an end. ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter) that the organization has waived the defensive back off of the injured reserve. The team has also promoted wideout Marcell Ateman and offensive lineman Denver Kirkland from the practice squad (via Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Twitter).

Melifonwu was selected in the second round of the 2017 draft following a standout career at Connecticut. The 24-year-old safety played sparingly during his rookie campaign, compiling seven tackles in five games (one start). Melifonwu was placed on the IR twice during his first season, and he was waived/injured by the Raiders back in August. After clearing waivers, he landed on the team’s injured reserve.

Ateman was a seventh-round pick by the organization in this past year’s draft. The Oklahoma State product was waived at the end of the preseason, and he subsequently caught on with the team’s practice squad. Kirkland has been with the organization for several seasons after going undrafted out of Arkansas during the 2016 draft. The 24-year-old started four of his six games back in 2016.

Earlier today, the Raiders made a switch at kicker. The team signed Daniel Carlson and waived Matt McCrane.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/3/18

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:

Atlanta Falcons

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

  • Signed: DE Christian LaCouture

Chicago Bears

Signed:

Cleveland Browns

Signed:

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Signed:

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Signed:

New York Giants

Oakland Raiders

San Francisco 49ers

  • Signed: OL Zack Golditch

Seattle Seahawks

Signed:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Signed:

Tennessee Titans

Raiders Announce Roster Cuts

Trading Khalil Mack wasn’t the Raiders’ only order of business Saturday. They’ve also moved their roster to 53 players by making the following transactions:

Waived:

Released:

Waived/injured:

Placed on injured reserve:

Placed on PUP list:

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/9/18

Here are today’s minor moves.

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Oakland Raiders

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Signed: OL Joseph Cheek
  • Signed: OL Larson Graham
  • Signed: OL Parker Collins

Tennessee Titans

Washington Redskins