DeShone Kizer

Titans Work Out QBs Trevor Siemian, DeShone Kizer

The Titans were busy today, as the organization worked out four notable offensive players. USA Today’s Mike Jones reports (via Twitter) that the team auditioned quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and DeShone Kizer, running back D’Onta Foreman, and tight end Geoff Swaim.

It’s not too surprising that the Titans are sniffing around for help at quarterback. After all, the team has a pair of unproven options behind Ryan Tannehill in Logan Woodside and Cole McDonald. Siemian would certainly provide the Titans with the experience they’re presumably seeking, although the 28-year-old has only seen time in one game over the past two years (thanks in part to a season-ending ankle injury during the 2019 campaign). The last time he got an extended look was 2017, when he went 5-5 as a starter for the Broncos.

Following an ugly 2017 campaign that saw him go winless in 15 starts for the Browns, Kizer has spent time with the Packers and Raiders. Still only 24 years old, the former Notre Dame standout has 11 career touchdowns vs. 24 career interceptions.

Following an award-winning career at Texas, Foreman was drafted in the third round of the 2017 draft by the Texans. He saw time in 10 games as a rookie, compiling 327 rushing yards and two scores on 78 carries. A torn Achilles suffered towards the end of that 2017 campaign limited him to only a single appearance in 2018, and he was cut the following preseason. He briefly caught on with the Colts, but he sat as a free agent for all of the 2019 season.

Swaim, a former seventh-round pick, spent four seasons with the Cowboys, including a 2018 season where he hauled in a career-high 26 receptions for 242 yards and one touchdown. He signed with the Jaguars last season, but he was limited to only 13 receptions in six games.

It wasn’t just those four players who auditioned for Tennessee today. As Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets, the Titans also hosted wide receivers Krishawn Hogan and A.J. Taylor, cornerback Andre Chachere, and running back Marcus Marshall.

Toronto Argonauts Claim DeShone Kizer’s CFL Rights

If DeShone Kizer wants to take his talents north of the border, the Toronto Argonauts will be ready to talk. The Argos have claimed the former second-round pick’s negotiating rights, according to Justin Dunk of 3DownNation.com

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So far, Kizer’s pro career hasn’t gone according to plan. The Notre Dame product started 15 games for the Browns as a rookie and he went 0-15 on one of the league’s worst teams in league history. One year later, he was shipped to the Packers where he sat behind Aaron Rodgers and appeared in three games. All in all, Kizer has completed 53% of his passes in the NFL for 3,081 yards, eleven touchdowns, and 24 interceptions.

Kizer didn’t make the Packers cut, which led him to the Raiders. He didn’t throw a pass in 2019 and the Raiders recently dropped him during their virtual OTA period. At this point, a comeback attempt in the CFL might be his best bet.

Just a few years ago, Kizer showed potential with the Fightin’ Irish. There, he threw for 47 touchdowns against 19 interceptions over the course of two seasons, though concerns about his field vision and decision making pushed him out of the first round. In the NFL, Kizer didn’t do much to silence the critics.

Raiders Waive QB DeShone Kizer

The Raiders will cut quarterback DeShone Kizer, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). With that, Kizer will hit the waiver wire, where the Bengals hold the top priority. 

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A second-round selection in 2017, Kizer was pegged as a green talent that had high upside. Unfortunately for him, he was taken by the Browns, who proceeded to lose every game that season. At year’s end, he was shipped to Green Bay. Last year, the Packers dropped him before the final cut to 53, leading him to the Raiders. Unless he circles back to the Packers or Browns, he’ll join the fourth team of his NFL career.

Kizer is still only 24, but Jon Gruden & Co. didn’t see a place for him on the roster with Derek Carr, Marcus Mariota, and Nathan Peterman already in the QB room. Mariota, who joined on a two-year, $17.6MM deal, will be one freak or blown play away from taking the field in Las Vegas. Peterman, who was retained with a $2MM+ tender as a restricted free agent, figures to be the QB3.

Kizer has made 18 appearances over the course of his NFL career, most of which came during the Browns’ winless season. All in all, he’s got eleven touchdowns against 24 interceptions.

In addition to Kizer, the Raiders have also waived tight end Paul Butler, defensive end Kendall Donnerson, offensive lineman Kyle Kalis, and linebackers Te’Von Coney and Quentin Poling.

AFC West Notes: Chiefs, Raiders, Leary

Let’s take a quick look at the AFC West, beginning with the division’s three-time reigning champion on the eve of a rather important game.

  • The Chiefs‘ New England visits over the past two seasons have included monster stat lines from their running back corps. While the player responsible for most of that production (Kareem Hunt) is long gone, the Chiefs will also be without starter Damien Williams for Sunday’s Patriots game. Kansas City’s Hunt successor remains out due to a rib injury, set to miss a second straight game. The Chiefs placed Darrel Williams on IR earlier this week and will take a LeSean McCoySpencer WareDarwin Thompson contingent to Foxborough.
  • Set for perhaps a do-or-die game, regarding their playoff aspirations, the Raiders will do so without their largest player. Trent Brown will miss Sunday’s game against the Titans with a pectoral injury. Second-year player Brandon Parker will start at right tackle. A second-round pick, Parker made 12 starts as a rookie but was replaced when the Raiders doled out a record contract for Brown.
  • When Jon Gruden pulled Derek Carr during a blowout loss against the Jets, Mike Glennon took the snaps. Should Carr go down or be benched again this season, that would not be the case. The Raiders promoted DeShone Kizer to their backup spot, Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area Notes. Kizer has been Oakland’s QB3 this season, inactive each game. He will suit up as a Raider for the first time, displacing Glennon in that role. The Raiders claimed Kizer, the Browns’ primary 2017 starter and a Packers backup last season, shortly after roster cutdown day.
  • Ronald Leary‘s 12 games this season represent his most with the Broncos, but Denver will have a new right guard Sunday. A concussion will sideline Leary and move Austin Schlottman into the starting lineup, per Mike Klis of 9News. A UDFA out of TCU, Schlottman spent last season on Denver’s practice squad and has played 10 NFL snaps. Leary will exit Week 14 having missed 16 games during his three-year Broncos tenure and looms as a cap-casualty candidate next year. The Broncos can save nearly $9MM by cutting the soon-to-be 31-year-old blocker, who has one season remaining on his contract.

Raiders Claim QB DeShone Kizer

The Raiders claimed quarterback DeShone Kizer off waivers from the Packers, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter).The move gives Oakland four quarterbacks as of this writing, though one of their signal callers will almost certainly be displaced to make room for the Notre Dame product.

A second-round selection in 2017, Kizer was pegged as a green talent that had high upside. Unfortunately for him, he was taken by the Browns, who proceeded to lose every game that season. At year’s end, he was shipped to Green Bay. Now, at the age of 23, he’s moving on to his third career NFL team.

The Raiders seemed set at quarterback with Derek Carr, Mike Glennon, and Nathan Peterman. Now, it looks like Peterman will be squeezed out to make room for Kizer. The Raiders would probably like to stash Peterman on the practice squad, but he’d have to clear waivers first.

Packers To Cut QB DeShone Kizer

The 53-man roster deadline is always full of surprises. Here’s the latest one – the Packers have cut quarterback DeShone Kizer, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Just a couple of months ago, Kizer indicated that he did not see him “as Aaron Rodgers’ backup for the final era of his career.” Instead, he envisioned being a “future Super Bowl MVP.”

“That’s the level I want to play at. Therefore, if I’m competing and focused in on the backup competition, then once again, I’m limiting myself,” he said.

The good news for Kizer – he won’t be Rodgers’ backup for the final era of his career. The bad news – well, you know.

A second-round selection in 2017, Kizer was pegged as a green talent that had high upside. Unfortunately for the Notre Dame product, he was taken by the Browns, who proceeded to lose every game that season. At year’s end, he was shipped to Green Bay. Now, at the age of 23, he’ll look for his third NFL squad.

Extra Points: Kizer, Falcons, Broncos

Packers backup quarterback DeShone Kizer said he doesn’t view himself as a longtime backup quarterback, Packers News’ Jim Owczarski writes.

“I don’t see myself as Aaron Rodgers’ backup for the final era of his career. I see myself as a future Super Bowl MVP. That’s the goal that I want to head toward. That’s the level I want to play at. Therefore, if I’m competing and focused in on the backup competition, then once again, I’m limiting myself,” he said.

A second-round selection in 2017, Kizer was pegged as a high-upside but raw talent coming out of Notre Dame. Unfortunately, he was taken by the Browns, who proceeded to lose every game that season. At year’s end, he was shipped to Green Bay where he serves as a backup to Aaron Rodgers.

Though he is a long way from his goal, Kizer said he is playing the best football of his career and is learning the ropes of the NFL from Rodgers, one of the best in the business. That, along with working with quarterback instructor Adam Dedeaux, could help the Fighting Irish product salvage a career that has seemed to stall. If all goes well for Kizer, he could continue to grow under Rodgers in Green Bay before looking for a chance to compete to start in a new locale after his contract is up.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Broncos third-round pick Dre’Mont Jones could quickly assume a large role as a versatile defender on the team’s defensive line, Kyle Fredrickson of the Denver Post writes. A bit undersized for a defensive lineman, Jones has impressed with his pass-rushing ability both up the middle and as a defensive end.
  • The Falcons haven’t had a punt return touchdown since 2014 and a kickoff return for a score since 2010. Looking to end those streaks are Kenjon Barner and Marcus Green, who are the frontrunners to return kicks for the Falcons in 2019, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Barner was an accomplished returner in college at Oregon and has served in the role in the NFL. Green is a sixth-round selection in 2019 from Louisiana-Monroe who has turned heads with his speed.

North Notes: Hundley, K. White, Hurst

Although many have assumed that the Packers will keep DeShone Kizer on their final roster — after all, Kizer is just one year removed from being a second-round draft pick, and Green Bay liked him enough to trade for him this offseason — Eric Baranczyk and Pete Dougherty of PackersNews.com believe the Packers should keep Brett Hundley and cut Kizer if it comes to that. Baranczyk and Dougherty say the game has slowed more for Hundley than it has for Kizer, and the fact that Green Bay recently traded for Kizer should not be a factor in the team’s decision (after all, the Packers were likely to cut Damarious Randall anyway if Cleveland hadn’t been willing to deal Kizer for him). Ideally, the Packers would be able to swing a trade for one of Hundley or Kizer, but failing that, the Packers News scribes think GM Brian Gutekunst should stick with Hundley, who did not play very well in relief of the injured Aaron Rodgers last year.

Now let’s take a look at a few more notes from the league’s North divisions:

  • Wide receivers Kevin White and Javon Wims both improved their chances of making the Bears‘ 53-man roster during Chicago’s preseason victory over Kansas City last night, as Adam L. Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. White, of course, was the No. 7 overall pick of the 2015 draft — and GM Ryan Pace‘s first-ever draft choice — but injuries have almost completely wiped out the first three years of his NFL career. Wims was a seventh-round selection in this year’s draft, and Jahns believes the Bears should keep both players and six receivers overall, including Josh Bellamy.
  • Although Mackensie Alexander is battling an ankle injury, he is expected to start as the Vikings‘ slot corner — and “quarterback of the defense” in head coach Mike Zimmer‘s scheme — if he is healthy, as Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune reports. However, first-round rookie Mike Hughes — who is also battling an undisclosed injury — has been pushing for first-team reps, which is fairly remarkable when considering that he did not play in the slot in college. Hughes could overtake Alexander down the line, but in any case, Minnesota appears to be well-set at the position in the long-term. Alexander, a 2016 second-rounder, has made tremendous strides in his third summer with the club.
  • Though they had been enjoying an injury- and drama-free offseason, the Ravens have been hit hard with unwelcome news over the past few days. They lost rookie TE Hayden Hurst for three-to-four weeks, they saw star CB Jimmy Smith suspended for four games — though they at least knew that was coming — and now Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic has more bad news to report. Zrebiec tweets that emerging third-year defensive tackle Willie Henry will miss several weeks with a hernia, while promising rookie safety DeShon Elliott may be out for the season with a forearm injury. Zrebiec adds that the recent spate of bad luck will impact Baltimore’s initial roster construction, because while the team will likely carry Hurst and Henry on the 53-man roster until they are ready to return, the Ravens may need to keep an extra tight end and defensive lineman until that happens (Twitter link). Elliott, meanwhile, is an IR candidate. Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com reports that Henry had surgery for his hernia and Hurst has had surgery for the stress fracture in his foot (Twitter links).
  • Browns head coach Hue Jackson wants to keep six wide receivers on the team’s regular-season roster, as Steve Doerschuk of the Akron Beacon Journal writes. Josh Gordon, Jarvis Landry, Antonio Callaway, and Rashard Higgins make up four of those six wideouts, while sixth-round rookie Damion Ratley also stands a good chance. That means veteran Jeff Janis and relative unknowns Derrick WilliesDa’Mari Scott, and C.J. Board could be fighting it out for the last spot.

Reaction To Browns Trades

In a span of less than two hours on Friday, the Browns completely retooled their offense and added a piece to their secondary by acquiring Jarvis Landry, Tyrod Taylor and Damarious Randall from the Dolphins, Bills and Packers respectively.

The flurry of moves drastically improves the teams offense and provides a veteran stopgap quarterback — assuming no longterm deal is made — that can bridge to the signal-caller the team is presumably going to tab with one of its two first-round picks.

Leaving Cleveland was 2017 second-round pick DeShone Kizer, who was sent to Green Bay in the Randall deal. The teams also agreed to swap fourth- and fifth-round picks in the upcoming draft. For Landry, the Browns only parted with a 2018 fourth-round pick (No. 123) and 2019 seventh-round selection. In the Taylor deal, Cleveland sent one of its third-round picks (No. 65) in exchange for the turnover-averse passer.

These deals can not be officially completed until Wednesday, the first day of the 2018 season.

Here’s more on Cleveland’s busy day:

  • The Browns do not have a long-term deal in place for Landry at the moment but both sides are interested, the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson tweets. Jackson also notes (Twitter link) that Landry likes the situation in Cleveland and is excited to work with new offensive coordinator Todd Haley.
  • Sticking with Landry, the Ravens, Titans and Jets were all involved in talks for the receiver late this week before the Browns landed him, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler tweets. The Ravens were widely reported as suitors for the dynamic slot receiver, but both the Jets and Titans flew under the radar.
  • ESPN’s Pat McManamon believes the trade of Kizer and the acquisition of Taylor emphasizes the Browns believe in one of the quarterbacks in the upcoming draft. He writes the plan is for Taylor to hold the spot in 2018 and let the drafted passer take the role in 2019.
  • Several other teams were interested in adding Taylor, including the Cardinals and Broncos, the Buffalo News’ Vic Carucci reports (Twitter link). Both teams were not willing to meet the Browns’ offer of a third-round pick. Kent Somers of AZ Central Sports, however, hears that the Cardinals were not involved in talks for the quarterback (Twitter link).
  • Heavily linked with Cleveland due to his ties with head coach Hue Jackson, A.J. McCarron will have to find a new suitor. ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link) noted the obvious candidates — Arizona, Denver and now Buffalo — as potential landing spots for the former Alabama signal-caller.

Browns Deal Kizer For Damarious Randall

In the deal that sent 2015 first-round cornerback Damarious Randall to the Browns, the Packers received in return quarterback DeShone Kizer, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network tweets

In addition to Randall and Kizer, the teams agreed to swap picks in the fourth and fifth rounds, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets.

A second-round selection in 2017, Kizer started 15 games with Browns as a rookie and did not win a game, posting just 11 touchdowns with a league-leading 22 interceptions. The writing appeared on the wall that the Notre Dame product was not in the Browns’ future plans after the team swung a deal for Tyrod Taylor on Friday. Just moments later, the team was able to find Kizer a new home in the Randall deal.

Boasting prototypical size and a cannon for an arm, Kizer entered the 2017 NFL Draft as a potential franchise signal-caller who could go in the first round. With the move to Green Bay, he will be able to learn the ropes from one of the best in the business in Aaron Rodgers while battling Brett Hundley, who has one year remaining on his rookie deal, for backup duties.

With the deal, the Packers cleared $1.4 MM in cap space. The Browns will have a fifth-year option on the cornerback they will have to declare by May 3, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein reports (Twitter link).

A first-round selection (No. 30 overall) in 2015, Randall has appeared in 39 games with 30 starts in Green Bay and has made 10 interceptions. In 2017, the cornerback registered four interceptions and returned one for a touchdown in 12 starts.

The trade can be made official as early as Wednesday.

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