NFC West Notes: Cardinals, Gabbert, ‘Hawks
Carson Palmer is getting towards the end of his career, but Cardinals coach Bruce Arians says that he might already have his quarterback of the future on the roster.
“Short-term, I’d be very comfortable if [Blaine Gabbert] had to play for us. Long-term, if he continues at this rate, he could be a starter,” the coach said (Twitter link via Mike Jurecki of 98.7 FM).
Arians isn’t the only coach that likes Gabbert – Seattle considered him this offseason and Miami pondered trading for him after Ryan Tannehill‘s injury. Still, it’s somewhat surprising to hear that Arians views him as a future starter since the former No. 10 overall pick hasn’t really experienced success at the NFL level. In five games as San Francisco’s starter last season, Gabbert posted a 1-4 record, while completing 56.9% of his passes for five touchdowns and six interceptions.
Here’s more from the NFC West:
- It appears that J.D. McKissic is back to being a running back after spending some time at wide receiver, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times notes. This could have implications on the Seahawks‘ 53-man roster, chiefly for 2016 fifth-round choice Alex Collins after he did not get a carry in the team’s most recent preseason game.
- 49ers running back Raheem Mostert is making a late run for a roster spot, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. The well-traveled 25-year-old is having a strong preseason while veteran Tim Hightower has missed two of three games. In Hightower’s lone appearance, he lost a fumble and had three carries for minus-one yard. In Mostert’s last outing, he had 130 all purpose yards and flashed serious skills as a pass catcher.
- The Cardinals have interest in acquiring Panthers punter Andy Lee.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/20/16
Today’s minor moves:
- The Seahawks announced a handful of roster moves today, with chief among being the placing of defensive lineman Damontre Moore, who was recently arrested for DUI, on injured reserve. Additionally, Seattle waived running back Kelvin Taylor, signed running back Terrence Magee off the Browns‘ practice squad, and claimed J.D. McKissic (whom the club will use as an RB, tweets Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times) off waivers from Atlanta.
- The Redskins have claimed Zach Vigil off waivers from Miami, per a club announcement. The Dolphins had hoped to re-sign Vigil to their practice squad, according to Barry Jackson on the Miami Herald (Twitter link). Vigil will take the roster spot of fellow LB Houston Bates, who tore his ACL and is now being placed on IR.
- The Vikings re-signed defensive tackle Toby Johnson, the club announced today, and confirmed that defensive lineman Tom Johnson is headed to IR. Toby Johnson had just been waived by Minnesota several days ago.
- The Bengals announced that they’ve waive long snapper Tyler Ott, a sign that fellow LS Clark Harris is now ready to go for Cincinnati.
- The Bears announced that they’ve promoted wide receiver Bralon Addison to the active roster and waived offensive lineman Cornelius Edison.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/19/16
Today’s practice squad moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed WR B.J. Daniels
- Cut: WR J.D. McKissic
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed LB Lavar Edwards
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: DB Jerome Couplin, LB Cassanova McKinz, LB Reggie Northrup, DB Kevin Short (link via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com)
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: LB Brandon Chubb
Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC South
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC South teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are noted below.
Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s NFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day. All links go to Twitter unless otherwise noted:
Atlanta Falcons
- Claimed:
- WR Taylor Gabriel (link via Mike Florio of PFT)
- Waived:
- Signed to practice squad:
- DE Nordly Capi
- CB Devonte Johnson
- DT Joey Mbu
- WR J.D. McKissic
- S Sharrod Neasman
- QB Matt Simms
- TE D.J. Tialavea
- RB Gus Johnson (Twittler link via D. Orlando Ledbetter)
- CB Deji Olatoye (Twittler link via D. Orlando Ledbetter)
Carolina Panthers
- Claimed:
- DE Lavar Edwards (Link via PFT)
- Waived:
- DE Wes Horton (Link via David Newton)
- Signed to practice squad
- CB Zack Sanchez (Link via Adam Caplan)
- S Marcus Ball
- LB Brian Blechen
- DT Eric Crume
- WR Keyarris Garrett
- TE Beau Sandland
- RB Jalen Simmons
- DE Larry Webster
- OL David Yankey
New Orleans Saints
- Signed to practice squad:
- OL John Fullington (Link via Josh Katzenstein)
- CB Brian Dixon (Link via Mike Triplett)
- DE Bobby Richardson
- LB Tony Steward
- FB Austin Johnson
- C Jack Allen,
- TE Garrett Griffin
- WR Jake Lampman
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed to practice squad:
- RB Russell Hansbrough (Link via Jim Thomas)
- WR Jeremy Butler (Link via PFT)
- LB Josh Keyes (link via Greg Auman)
- RB Peyton Barber (story via Auman)
- OL Josh Allen
- OL Ben Gottschalk
- CB Javien Elliott
- S Isaiah Johnson
- LB Micah Awe (Link via Auman)
- WR Freddie Martino
Falcons Cut Simms, Two Others
The Falcons waived a number of players yesterday in anticipation of the roster deadline, and they’ve continued to cut players today.
Here’s a running list of the team’s cuts:
- WR J.D. McKissic (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure)
- RB Brandon Wilds (injury settlement) (Twitter link via McClure)
- QB Matt Simms (Twitter link via McClure)
The team has also put a pair of players on the injured reserve:
- CB Akeem King (foot) (Twitter link via McClure)
- CB DeMarcus Van Dyke (concussion) (Twitter link via McClure)
Falcons Agree To Sign 22 UDFAs
SATURDAY, 6:05pm: The Falcons announced that they’ve added a trio of undrafted free agents on Saturday:
- OL Shahbaz Ahmed (Temple)
- WR David Glidden (Oklahoma State)
- DE Brandon Williams (Southern Illinois).
The Falcons also announced that they waived four of their previously signed undrafted free agents: Gerald Dixon Jr., Alex Fifita, Malachi Jones, and David Richards.
THURSDAY, 4:21pm: Despite the fact that Atlanta only selected six players during last weekend’s draft, the Falcons’ rookie minicamp will be a busy place. The team confirmed today that it has signed 22 undrafted free agents to fill out its roster, with another 27 free agent rookies headed to the minicamp to try out for the club.
The full list of 27 tryout players can be found right here. Listed below are the 22 players who have agreed to contracts with the Falcons:
- DE Josh Dawson (Georgia)
- DT Gerald Dixon Jr. (South Carolina)
- OL Cody Elenz (Lamar)
- OL Alex Fifita (Fresno State)
- LB Torrey Green (Utah State)
- DT Cory Johnson (Kentucky)
- WR Daje Johnson (Texas)
- CB Devonte Johnson (Weber State)
- WR Malachi Jones (Appalachian State)
- NT Chris Mayes (Georgia)
- WR J.D. McKissic (Arkansas State)
- LB Ivan McLennan (Washington State)
- CB David Mims II (Texas State)
- DB Sharrod Neasman (Florida Atlantic)
- TE Joshua Perkins (Washington)
- DB Brian Poole (Florida)
- FB Will Ratelle (North Dakota)
- OL Jake Reed (Indiana)
- WR David Richards (Arizona)
- K Nick Rose (Texas)
- CB Jordan Sefon (St. Cloud State)
- RB Brandon Wilds (South Carolina)