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).
Lions Release Ryan Broyles, 8 Others
The Lions have cut ten players loose, including wide receiver Ryan Broyles, as Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com writes. The full list is below:
- Deon Butler, TE
- Ryan Broyles, WR
- Garret Gilbert, QB
- Vernon Johnson, WR
- Desmond Martin, RB
- Roy Philon, DT
- Jocquel Skinner, CB
- R.J. Stanford, CB
- Erik Williams, DE
In addition to those moves, cornerback Chris Owens has been placed on IR with an undisclosed injury. Broyles, 27, has spend the last three years with the Lions and appared in 21 total games. In his rookie season, the second round selection hauled in 22 catches for 310 yards and 2 touchdowns, leading many to wonder if he could be on his way to becoming a leading wide receiver. Since then, however, he has notched just 10 total catches.
Minor Moves: Tuesday
We’ll use this space to round up Tuesday’s minor transactions from around the NFL, with the latest moves added to the top of the list throughout the day….
- The Ravens have waived quarterback Keith Wenning, tight end Phillip Supernaw, and outside linebacker Darius Allen, the team announced today in a press release. Wenning, a sixth-round pick in 2014, became expendable when Baltimore signed Matt Schaub to be Joe Flacco‘s backup. Meanwhile, the Ravens added three players to their roster, signing undrafted rookies Leon Brown (G), Daniel Brown (WR), and Andrew Bose (ILB).
- The Seahawks announced that they have signed Seahawks have signed defensive end Julius Warmsley and guard Kona Schwenke. Both players tried out for Seattle during the team’s rookie minicamp this past weekend. Schwenke, a Notre Dame product, signed as a UDFA around this time last year with the Chiefs and also saw time with the Pats, Jets, and Raiders.
- The Lions are signing former Wayne State running back Desmond Martin, who participated in the club’s rookie minicamp, reports Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter).
- In addition to confirming the previously reported signings of tight end Will Tye and defensive tackle Carlif Taylor, the Giants also announced deals for running back Kenneth Harper and wide receiver Ben Edwards.
Zach Links contributed to this post.